Characteristics of local guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) production and breeding systems in northern Côte d'Ivoire's Poro region

Local guinea fowl are the second most abundant poultry resource in the area, behind local chickens, and they are exploited in an uncontrolled system that affects production. Rural poultry farmers in 12 villages in the departments of Korhogo and Sinématiali participated in a descriptive study on their agricultural system. 35 local guinea fowl owners were asked to complete a semi-structured questionnaire. The findings show that in the Poro region, local méléagriculture is practiced solely in a large-scale system. This practice is restricted for men (94 %), supported by family members (68.60 %), and seen as secondary by the respondents (68.57 %). Farmers, planters, and retailers make up most of them (85.71 %). The original breeding nucleus was made up of eggs (80%) and female guinea fowl (14.28 %). Guinea fowls lay the first eggs at an average age of 7 months (54.28 percent), with the early ones around 6 months (20 %). The flocks are tiny (average of 25 guinea fowl) and are made up of mature (55.69%), young (23.11%), and early (11.40%) guinea fowl. All these guinea fowl have pearled feathers and are primarily grey (71.43 %). They live in rudimentary shelters and forage for food on the streets. The main causes of guinea fowl mortality (68.59 %) were rain and humidity, which had an impact on productivity. This region had the highest percentage of livestock items for sale (62.84%). The socio-economic position of the farmer, the farming method, and the utilization of chicken products were used to identify three agricultural sub-systems.

Management of losses and Newcastle disease in rural poultry in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Causes of losses in rural poultry and measures adopted by farmers for the management of Newcastle disease (ND) were identified. The study was conducted in 13 local governments, in 33 villages and 223 households. Data on the population, health, causes of losses, management system, productivity, extension services and ethnoveterinary practices were collected using interview and a structured questionnaire. Of the three species of local poultry investigated, the chicken was raised by all respondents. A mean flock size of 18 local chickens, 16 guinea fowls and 7 ducks were recorded per household. Over 50% of the households kept 2 0r more species of poultry with chickens and guinea fowls being the most frequent (79%). All farmers provided supplementary food and water for birds but none offered commercial feed. The duck was a better hatcher than the chicken. ND was the major cause of losses of rural poultry. Poultry extension service was lacking. Majority (79.4%) of the respondents provided houses for their stock at night and 78% used traditional medicines for the management of diseases. Very few (1.38%) consulted veterinary clinics. As ND was reported to be a major threat to the development and survival of local poultry, adequate management measures in the form of improved feeding, housing, extension services and vaccination must be put in place to improve their productivity.

GROSS MARGIN ESTIMATION OF RURAL POULTRY PRODUCTION IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA.

A Survey was conducted to obtain information on profitability of rural poultry production In Osun State. Two villages each from līve Local Government Areas were studied. One hundred poultry keepers served as the respondents to a structured questionnaire. Numerical data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Average flock size was 17 birds and average feed supplementation cost per bird per fronth was N 7.70. Basket coops were the common type of Overnight housing provided and the depreciated cost was about N0.103 per bird per month. The average price of a mature cock was N79, hens and growers cost N29, respectively. The farmers were willing to pay N4.30 per bird for vaccination against Newcastle disease and N6.70 per kilogram of compounded feed. Gross margin estimation shows that the farmer realised a positive margin of N4.50 from the sale of growers at 3 months of age and N9.00 and N30.00 on hens and cocks, respectively, when sold at 6 months of age.

Evaluation of Growth, Carcass and Meat Quality of a Two-way Cross Developed for Rural Poultry Farming

Background: Rural poultry farming with improved dual purpose chicken varieties is fast growing in the country. The meat quality of cocks and its acceptance by the consumer is important for its propagation as dual purpose variety. The two way cross produced by PD-1 xPD-4 (improved Aseel) was evaluated for growth, carcass and meat quality.Metohds: The growth, carcass and meat quality traits were evaluated in a two way cross developed and propagated for rural poultry farming at ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana. The data collected on 232 birds for growth, 40 birds for carcass and 20 birds for meat quality were utilized for the study. Result: The body weight and shank length significantly (P£0.05) differed between the sexes from six weeks onwards with higher (P£0.05) body weights and longer shanks in males. The six week body weight and shank length were 578.23±8.22g and 78.93±6.22 mm in males and 548.28±7.20 g and 76.15±5.28 mm in females, respectively. The Least squares means for body weight at 12 weeks of age in males and females were 1652.61±21.49 and 1367.86 ±14.99 g, respectively. Males had strong legs with significantly (P£0.05) high proportion of thigh meat. The effect of sex was non-significant on Dressing percentage (DP), neck, back and breast meat proportions. The DP was 71.12±0.22% in males and 72.51±0.43 % in females, respectively. The bone proportion was higher (P£0.05) in males. Abdominal fat proportion was significantly (P£0.05) higher in pullets. Feather proportion was higher (P£0.05) in males. Sex did not show any significant variation on the pH, Shear force value (SFV) and Hydroxy Proline (HP) values. The yellowness (b*) differed (P£0.05) between the sexes and it was lower in males. The fat and moisture content differed significantly (P£0.05) between the sexes. Fat proportion was higher (P£0.05) in females (3.57±0.05) than in males (2.97±0.01). Protein and ash proportions were similar in both the sexes. The sensory attributes ranged from 6.55 to 7.15 on an eight point scale in two-way cross meat indicating better consumer acceptability. The study concluded that, two-way cross with ideal growth, carcass and optimum meat quality and reasonable consumer acceptability may be a suitable variety for propagating in rural and tribal areas under free range backyard conditions.