FIFTEEN YEARS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY ON FAMILY POULTRY

Authors

  • E. B. SONAIYA

Keywords:

Smallholder family poultry (SFP), rural poultry, local chickens, village chickens

Abstract

Family poultry kept mainly by women has been studied for 15 years by the Family Poultry Research Project (FPRP). A chronological report of FPRPs findings is presented. Mean flock size of 16 birds is usually established by purchase for the purpose of sale and consumption. Hens mature at 24 weeks and produce 10 batches of eggs each, 86% of which are hatched with only 33% of hatched chicks surviving. Of the total cost of production to 24 weeks, 61% is for supplement feed, 20% for replacement stock and 14% for health care. A 50% replacement of growers mash by a simple ration consisting of three non-conventional feedstuffs (palm oil sludge, cowpea testa and maize starch residue) in the supplement feed had no significant effect on performance of birds on-station and on-farm. The proximate composition and metabolizable energy of 10 non-conventional feedstuffs is presented. Newcastle disease (ND) was identified as the major cause of general mortality. On-farm trials indicated that a combination of vaccination against ND and supplementation significantly increased average daily gain by birds and average clutch size of hens as compared with the control treatment. It was concluded that vaccination supplementation and vaccination + supplementation treatments increased flock size, reduced mortality and increased the number of chicks produced per hen per year. Some natural products (tagiri Lagenaria breviflora, dogonyaro Azadirachta indica, ewe ipin Ficus exasperata) were found to be associated with the control of ND, nutritional deficiency and external parasites respectively. The scavengeable feed resources (SFR) available to birds scavenging on the free range was estimated continually by measurement, calculation and prediction over an extended period. The number of refuse heaps per kilometer and number of insects per square metre were significant predictors of SFR while vegetation cover was not. Genetic evaluation showed that local chickens ecotypes from three ecological zones were not significantly different but were superior in disease resistance to exotic Dahlem Red as indicated by cellular and immune responses. Crosses of Dahlem Red and the Fulani ecotype were superior to other crosses but were inferior to Dahlem Red in production parameters measured over 5 years. Based on the result of our research and experiences elsewhere, a combination of improvements in vaccination, feeding, housing, breeding and farmerss training and credict support has been developed into a smallholder family poultry (SFP) model for poverty alleviation and food security in Nigeria. The model is currently undergoing field testing, adaptation and adoption.

Published

2020-10-07