Testing and delivering tropically-adapted chickens for productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa (original) (raw)
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2019
Dual-purpose Koekoek breed technology package demonstration was carried out in Sidama zone Dale and Shebedino woredas. The package aimed to build the skill of participant farmers through dissemination and promotion of suitable full-fledged chicken technologies for household income and food security. Participant farmers were selected purposely based on willingness to construct a chicken house, covering the associated package costs and record the required data. Three days of training on chicken management feeds and feeding and health was given for those selected households (hh) farmers and Livestock and Fishery Resource Development office experts and development agents. A total of 550 a-day old chicks were distributed for Shebedino and Dale Woredas for a total of 11 participants’ hh each with 50 chicks. Chick starter formulated rations were also given for two months' consumption and by then the chicken was scavenged and provided household leftovers and supplements. Vaccines were p...
Journal of Biology Agriculture and Healthcare, 2014
The survey was aimed at assessing village chicken production opportunities and constraints in western zone of Tigray. Multi stage sampling produres were employed to select weredas, sample kebeles and respondents in which three rural weredas were selected by purposive sampling technique; stratified purposive techniques were employed to select nine sample kebeles and purposive random sampling techniques were used to select a total of 385 respondents. Pretested well-structured questionnaire and focused group discussion were employed to generate data. Household characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics of SPSS 16. Kruskal-Wall's test option of Non-parametric tests of SPSS 16 was employed to test proportion difference of each variable among the altitudes. Ranking index was employed to rank both identified constraints and common poultry diseases. Disease (1 st) and predators (2 nd) were the major village chicken production constraints. Newcastle disease (1 st), fowl salmonella (2 nd), coccidiosis (3 rd), fowl typhoid (4 th), fowl cholera (5 th), fowl pox (6 th) and fowl coryza (7 th) were the major and economically important diseases that hinder the expansion of village chicken production in the study area. On the other hand, market access, feed access, drinking water access, and diversified agro-ecological zones of the study area and ease management of village chicken were the identified opportunities of village chicken production. Chickens are considered as movable poor man's bank because of Ease management of village chicken and their short reproduction cycles. Therefore, technical and institutional interventions are very imperative to lessen the prevailing constraints together with designing, planning and implementing community based and agro-ecologically friendly holistic breeding and production improvement programmes in order to ensure sustainable improvement, utilization and conservation of the identified opportunities and the indigenous chicken genetic resources as whole.
Evaluation of the adoption of improved village chicken production technologies in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria was studied. The specific objectives of of the study were to; (i)describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers, (ii) assess the level of village chicken production technologies adoption by the farmers, (iii)identify the breeds of local chicken reared by the farmers, (iv)determine the effect of the farmers' socio economic characteristics on their technology adoption, and (v) identify the constraints to village chicken production in the study area. Purposive and multi stage random sampling technique were used to select 100 farmers for the detailed study. Data for this study were collected through the use of a structured questionnaire and oral interview. Percentage response was used to address the objectives I, ii, iii and v and Tobit analysis was used to address the objective iv of the study. The results showed that majority of the respondents were married, youthful, fairly educated and well experienced. The result of level of technology adoption, also showed that housing of bird was most adopted by the farmers, while the least was use of artificial hatchery. In addition, majority of the respondents raised their birds through extensive system. Furthermore, determinant factors to the technology adoption were age, educational level, farming experience and extension contact. Most of the farmers in the study area, as well reared normal feather, followed by frizzle and the least was naked neck. Furthermore, technology too costly, inadequate information on village chicken management technology, high cost of feeds and concentrates, poor access to veterinary assistance, inadequate extension contact and high cost of drugs and medication were among limiting factors to the adoption of improved village chicken production technologies in the study area. The need to increase farmers' access to credit, extension contact and education were recommended.
Participatory evaluation of chicken health and production constraints in Ethiopia
Preventive Veterinary Medicine
The study was designed to determine the effects of chicken ecotypes, sex and their interaction on carcass performances of local chicken ecotypes in their natural environments of western zone of Tigray. Forty eight matured local chickens with 24 females (8 / ecotype) and 24 males (8 /ecotype) with age ranging from 10-12 months were purchased for carcass trait evaluation. Chickens were immediately slaughtered and defeathered manually after the purchased chickens were deprived of feed and water over night and weighted to get the actual live, carcass and carcass cuts of each chicken using a Sensitive balance of weighing scale of one gram precision. GLM procedure of SAS 9.2 was employed to determine the effects of chicken ecotypes, sex and their interaction on carcass traits of the local chickens. Tukey test was used to compare significant traits. Male chickens performed significantly (P<0.05) higher than females in all carcass traits. Lowland chicken ecotypes had significantly performed better than either of the rest two chicken ecotypes in all considered carcass traits except skin weight. Sex by chicken ecotypes interaction had significant effect in all considered traits (p<0.05). Both chicken sexes from lowland ecotypes significantly performed higher than their respective counter parts from either of the two ecotypes in almost all considered carcass traits. The variation in carcass trait performance among the chicken ecotypes is an indicator of their genetic variation with respect to carcass traits. In depth further studies on molecular assessment of genetic variations are required to validate the detected variations in carcass performances. Thus, environmentally friendly and community based holistic genetic improvement programs should be designed and implemented in order to assure sustainable improvement, utilization and in-situ conservation of the indigenous chicken genetic resources.
Characterization of indigenous chicken production systems in Kenya
Tropical Animal Health and Production, 2012
Indigenous chicken (IC) and their production systems were characterized to understand how the whole system operates for purposes of identifying threats and opportunities for holistic improvement. A survey involving 594 households was conducted in six counties with the highest population of IC in Kenya using structured questionnaires. Data on IC farmers' management practices were collected and analysed and inbreeding levels calculated based on the effective population size. Indigenous chicken were ranked highest as a source of livestock income by households in medium-to high-potential agricultural areas, but trailed goats in arid and semi-arid areas. The production system practised was mainly lowinput and small-scale free range, with mean flock size of 22.40 chickens per household. The mean effective population size was 16.02, translating to high levels of inbreeding (3.12%). Provision for food and cash income were the main reasons for raising IC, whilst high mortality due to diseases, poor nutrition, housing and marketing channels were the major constraints faced by farmers. Management strategies targeting improved healthcare, nutrition and housing require urgent mitigation measures, whilst rural access road network needs to be developed for ease of market accessibility. Sustainable genetic improvement programmes that account for farmers' multiple objectives, market requirements and the production circumstances should be developed for a full realization of IC productivity.
The study was conducted in four woredas (Damot Gale,Of a, Angacha and Hadero Tunto) the first two of them found in Wolaita zone and two of them in Kambata Tambaro Zone of SNNPR, Ethiopia respectively. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the study areas to assess village chicken production systems, productive and reproductive performance of village chicken and identifying constraints to village chicken production. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 240 farming households and administer a pre-tested and structured questionnaire. The results showed that the mean age of interviewed farmers was 37.8±9.3 years; average family size & chicken owned per household were 6.8±2.4 persons and 8.6±1.7 heads, respectively. There was no significant differences (p ≥0.05) found among the four woredas in all the above traits. The average number of clutch and eggs per hen per year of local chicken in the study areas were 4±0.87 and 12.9±3.47 respectively.
Characterisation of indigenous chicken production systems in the Sudano-sahelian zone of Cameroon
From January to September 2010, studies were undertaken in rural, peri-urban and urban areas of the Sudano-sahelian agro-ecological zone of Cameroon to characterize the production system of indigenous chicken populations. The study was also aimed at generating information on village based indigenous chicken utilization, management practices, opportunities and challenges. Thirteen villages were investigated in the Far-north and North regions using a structured questionnaire. The study of Sudano-sahelian local chicken production system revealed that women are responsible for chicken rearing in households (72.5%), the level of education was variable, with 45.1% sampled farmers who have never gone to school, and only 3.9% having post secondary school of education. Auto-consumption of chicken was the general and major objective of chicken breeding in the area (23.5%). Goat, cattle, sheep and small birds were associated to chickens in the household by the proportions of 32.21, 28.11, 10.70, and 17.79% respectively. The majorityof farmers (76.5%) supplement their chickens and share their house (60.8%) with their animals. Health care was negligible, since no vaccination (70.6%) and no medical treatment (54.9%) was given to animals. Diseases and predators are the main challenges (15.7%) in the local chicken production system in the Sudano-sahelian agro-ecological zone of Cameroon. Majority of interviewed chicken owners showed a great interest to boost up existing village chicken production in the area. Efforts should be made to improve the production and productivity of village chicken in a sustainable way and to shift from the extensive system to semi-intensive husbandry, with emphasis on disciplinary support of services like: health, husbandry, research, extension training and credit intervention.
F1000Research
This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for the utilization and conservation of indigenous chickens (IC) (Gallus domesticus) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), drawing lessons from selected low-income countries. Small-scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households' nutritional needs, incomes, and social-cultural and religious uses. The commitment exhibited by SSF to keeping IC has made them the significant custodians of essential animal genetic resources AnGR in most low-income countries. Between 1991 and 2012, Zambia's private breeders invested over US$95 million in the commercial poultry sector, resulting in over a 100% increase in the annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production costs and low market access hindered rural farmers' full participation, hence their continued dependence on IC breeds. The erosion of AnGR poses the biggest threat to IC in SSA. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, ...