Production systems of village chickens in the Abu-Dhabi Emirate, UAE

Abstract

The study was undertaken to establish the village chicken (VC) production systems and to generate information on VC utilization, management practices, opportunities and challenges, using a survey. Only 20% of VC owners were females. The VC are raised mainly (80%) as dual purpose, eggs and meat. The average flock size is 457 layer hens, with 7:1 hens to cocks. Chickens houses were semi-closed cages (47%) partly shaded (20%), and shades with open range (32%). The hired labor was the sole person taking care of chickens and making the mating decisions in 85 and 68% of the properties, respectively. Selection is practiced by 37.5, 3, and 5% of large, medium and small flocks' owners, respectively. Cocks and hens replacements are from the same flock (97%). At least 61% of culling for hens and cocks is practiced for old age, 44% for low productivity and 5% for diseases. Thirteen VC breeds and crossbreds were found; the most available of which is the Emirati local breed which is found in 71% of the farms. Body weight was significantly (P<0.001) affected by the interaction between breed and region. Daily egg productivity was 32.4%, with average hatchability of 75.9%. The VC was reared mainly as a hobby and for home consumption, since most of the Emirati people prefer the taste of VC and to ensure that both their meat and eggs sources are additives free. The VC has poor productivity under the existed conditions.

Factors Influencing the Morphological Characteristics of Village Chickens’ Genetic Resources in the Abu-Dhabi Emirate, UAE

“…Emirati people are interested in keeping robust birds that would rank high in exhibitions and competitions. These chickens are source of income for many Emirati families beside home consumption and reared for meat and egg production [7]. Therefore, 13 VCs breeds in addition to crossbreds were found in this study ( Table 1).…”

“…Although, indigenous chickens (genotypes) were known as less productive, keepers prefer them, as they were more adapted to severe environmental conditions, have better maternal care, and produce leaner and tastier meat compared to exotic breeds [7] with Pakistani and then with all other breeds. The fourth was the Omani chickens (12%) which were highly diverse group of chickens, very similar to the Emirati local breed, a little shorter, and found only in Al-Ain close to Oman boarder.…”

“…In many regions of the world, VCs are kept for several goals which include local consumption, extra income, pest control and manure production [4] [5] [6] [7]. They are more adaptive to their climatic harsh conditions, resistant to local diseases and classified by small size and low egg production [8] [9].…”

Rationalising Development of Classification Systems Describing Livestock Production Systems for Disease Burden Analysis within the Global Burden of Animal Diseases Programme

“…A lack of clear definitions or inconsistent definitions of variables between studies was also observed. For example, the definitions of the backyard and small-scale farms were not specified in a study that used pig farm categories in Russia (Vergne et al, 2016) and another study on village-chicken production documented that it was challenging to define a farm that belongs to the system (Tabbaa and Hassanin, 2017). More detailed ontologies are required to ensure less confusion in future development of more detailed classification frameworks.…”