Most rural households have poultry cared for by women, children and vulnerable people -the aged and physically challenged. Family poultry generate 19-50% of rural family income, make up about 77% of the national flock and contribute about 98% of poultry products consumed in the villages of developing countries. Households that accept innovation for semi-scavenging poultry production usually increase weekly consumption of eggs and meat. The importance of family poultry in assisting the landless poor and the destitute is reflected in many national poverty reduction strategy programmes which identify family poultry as one of the keys to accomplishing the millennium development goal of reducing the number of poor by half before 2015. There are few other alternatives in the livestock sector that can be used to reach so many poor people in rural areas. Wherever HPAI occurs in family poultry, it will wipe out the contribution of family poultry to family food security and to family income. While compensation and restocking are important, the greatest need of smallholder poultry producers faced with the challenge of HPAI is for information, knowledge and training for HPAI-safe family poultry production.
Background Availability of appropriate genetics is important for the development of smallholder poultry (SHP). The biological potential of improved dual purpose chicken germplasms was evaluated in Nigeria. Methods A total of six breeds (Fulani, FUNAAB Alpha, Kuroiler, Noiler, Sasso, and Shika-Brown) were tested on-station, in deep litter houses at two test centres (Public and private facility) for 504 days. Birds were fed ad libitum for the first 140 days after which restricted feeding was practised. Result Lowest and highest hatchability of eggs set was 55% (FUNAAB Alpha) and 89% (Sasso), respectively. At 140 days, male live weights were 200%-300 % higher than the local chickens (975 g) except Shika-Brown (152%) and Fulani (135%). Lowest (p < 0.05) age at first egg was 119 days for Shika-Brown and 120 days for FUNAAB Alpha and Kuroiler. Highest hen-housed egg production was 192 for Shika-Brown, and feed intake per dozen eggs was lowest (p < 0.05) for Shika-Brown (2.9 kg) and FUNAAB Alpha (2.9 kg). Mortality rate of the locally sourced breeds (Fulani, FUNAAB Alpha, Noiler, and Shika-Brown) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the foreign-sourced breeds (Kuroiler, Sasso) during brooding, growing and laying. Conclusion Results from this study identified FUNAAB Alpha and Noiler as being more suitable for dual-purpose functions (egg and meat), while Sasso and Kuroiler (meat) and Shika-Brown (egg) were observed to be better suited for single purpose functions. These findings could guide the introduction of smallholder poultry-specific hybrid germplasms for the development of the smallholder poultry production systems in Nigeria.
This study aimed at determining chicken genotypes of choice and traits preference in chicken by smallholder farmers in Nigeria. Data were obtained from a total of 2063 farmers using structured questionnaires in five agro-ecological zones in Nigeria. Chi square (χ 2) statistics was used to explore relationships between categorical variables. The mean ranks of the six genotypes and twelve traits of preference were compared using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis H (with Mann-Whitney U test for post hoc separation of mean ranks), Friedman, and Wilcoxon signed-rank (with Bonferroni's adjustments) tests. Categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA) was used to assign farmers into groups. Gender distribution of farmers was found to be statistically significant (χ 2 = 16.599; P ≤ 0.002) across the zones. With the exception of Shika Brown, preferences for chicken genotypes were significantly (P ≤ 0.01) influenced by agro-ecological zone. However, gender differentiated response was only significant (P ≤ 0.01) in Sasso chicken with more preference by male farmers. Overall, FUNAAB Alpha, Sasso, and Noiler chicken were ranked 1st, followed by Kuroiler (4th), Shika Brown (5th), and Fulani birds (6th), respectively. Within genotypes, within and across zones and gender, preferences for traits varied significantly (P ≤ 0.005 and P ≤ 0.01). Traits of preference for selection of chicken breeding stock tended towards body size, egg number, egg size, and meat taste. Spearman's rank order correlation coefficients of traits of preference were significant (P ≤ 0.01) and ranged from 0.22 to 0.90. The two PCs extracted, which explained 65.3% of the variability in the dataset, were able to assign the farmers into two groups based on preference for body size of cock and hen and the other ten traits combined. The present findings may guide the choice of appropriate chicken genotypes while the traits of economic importance may be incorporated into future genetic improvement and conservation programs in Nigeria.
Increasing poultry product consumption trends have attracted researchers and development practitioners to look for interventions that transform the low-input low-output-based village chicken production to a high yielding production system. However, due to the intricate nature of the production system, there is a dearth of evidence that helps design comprehensive interventions at the smallholder level. Using national-level representative data collected from 3555 village chicken producers in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania, this study examines the technical efficiency of village chicken production and investigates the main factors that explain the level of inefficiency. We applied a stochastic frontier analysis to simultaneously quantify the level of technical efficiency and identify factors associated with heterogeneity in inefficiency. We found that the level of technical efficiency is extremely low in the three countries, suggesting enormous opportunities to enhance productivity using available resources. The heterogeneity in technical efficiency is strongly associated with producers’ experience in breed improvements and flock management, limited technical knowledge and skills, limited access to institutions and markets, smaller flock size, gender disparities, and household livelihood orientation. We argue the need to adopt an integrated approach to enhance village producers’ productivity and transform the traditional subsistence-based production system into a commercially oriented semi-intensive production system.
The low-input:low-output scavenging systems in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the pastured and organic farming systems in Europe and North America depend on the free-range. Nutrient resources available in free-range and scavenging systems can be assessed by three parameters: Scavengeable Feed Resource Inventory (SFRI); Range Coverage (RC); and Scavengeable Feed Resource Harvest (SFRH). SFRI is estimated by 4 procedures: determination of the quantity of Household Leftovers (HHL) added to the range and determination of the quantity of scavengeable flora and fauna using Pitfall Traps; Transect Mappings; and Quadrants. RC is assessed by 3 procedures: visual inspection; physical space measurement; and automatic monitoring of birds by telemetry. SFRH, or the intake of scavengeable materials (HHL, plants, insects and metazoans) from the range, is estimated by applying 3 procedures to the content of the crops of scavenging birds: visual identification; physical separation and weighing; and chemical analysis. The assessment methods and parameters are still rudimentary and require a lot of improvement in accuracy and repeatability. Assessment of nutrient resources in free-range and scavenging systems: E.B. SonaiyaThe concept of a scavengeable feed resource base (SFRB) was developed from field work done in Sri Lanka Gunaratne et al., 1993). The SFRB includes the total amount of household food waste and leftover (HHL) that is thrown out. The size of the HHL depends on the number of households, the food crops they grow and their processing methods as well as on the climatic conditions that determine the rate of decomposition of these foods (Kitalyi, 1998;Roberts, 1999). The HHL can be harvested by all scavenging animals (cattle, buffalo, sheep, donkey, goats, pigs, dogs, cats as well as undomesticated animals) which all compete with poultry. The extent of the HHL that can be harvested by poultry depends on the species of poultry. A mixture of species of poultry is more effective in harvesting this resource than a single species can be.The SFRB focuses on the homestead as the source of scavengeable nutrients. Without the confinement of the homestead, nutrient resources from the range and scavenging systems can be seen to be derived from all the materials that are always or seasonally available in the environment and which the scavenging birds can use as feed (Sonaiya et al. 2002a). For this reason, and to distinguish the scope from that within which SFRB was developed, the term Scavengeable Feed Resources (SCFR) will be used in this paper. Hence, SCFR come from: a) the households (kitchens, gardens, crop fields, orchards, harvest residues) when available; and b) the environment (or uncultivated land with such components as plant leaves and seeds, worms, insects, molluscs (snails and slugs), stone grits and sand (Roberts and Senaratne, 1992;Sonaiya, 1995;Sonaiya et al. 2002a). The portion of SCFR that comes from the environment apart from the household varies with season and rainfall as well as with the life cycle of insect...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.