Small-Scale Family Poultry Production An assessment of some poultry management practices and disease recognition by poultry farmers in Maiduguri arid zone, Nigeria

Small-Scale Family PoultryProduction

An assessment of some poultrymanagement practices and diseaserecognition by poultry farmers inMaiduguri arid zone, Nigeria

M.S. AKIDARJU and E.G. ONYEMAECHI1* and M.G. DAUDA3

1Senator Ali Sheriff (SAS) Veterinary Hospital, Maiduguri, PO Box, 819,Maiduguri, Nigeria; 2Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Maiduguri,PO Box, 1069, Maiduguri, Nigeria; 3Department of Veterinary Surgery andTheriogenology University of Maiduguri, PO Box, 1069, Maiduguri, Nigeria*Corresponding author: [email protected]

The poultry industry in Nigeria constitutes an important agricultural enterprise tothe nation, contributing substantially to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).This paper will assess certain poultry management practices and disease recognitionby poultry farmers in Maiduguri in the Borno State of Nigeria, with the view ofimproving poultry production in this part of the country. The assessment wascarried out by questionnaire, which sought information on poultry managementsystems, flock size, housing, vaccination, use of antibiotics and disease recognition.Two hundred and fifty copies of the questionnaire were distributed to poultryfarmers in Maiduguri via day-old-chick sellers, poultry-feed sellers, and staff ofpoultry units at the State Veterinary and University of Maiduguri TeachingHospitals. The results of the questionnaire showed that small-holder farmersmade up the majority of producer (24.3%), whilst farmers who maintained flocksize of greater than 500 chickens were in the minority (13.3%). Most of the farmers(82.7%: N = 173) in Maiduguri use deep litter rearing systems. Half zinc, half wiremesh open–sided poultry houses formed the greater proportion (47.7%) of poultryhousing maintained by poultry farmers in the study area. Furthermore, non-adherence to full vaccination schedules (56.7%) and use of multiple antibiotics(72.3%) for chemoprophylaxis in poultry were common. Diarrhoea (39.9%),ruffled feathers (31.8%) and respiratory rales/panting (27.2%) were commonsigns observed by poultry farmers as part of their disease recognition. Thepoultry industry in Maiduguri still faces serious constraints due to management

doi:10.1017/S0043933910000334

© World's Poultry Science Association 2010World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 66, June 2010Received for publication March 4, 2009Accepted for publication October 29, 2009 285

practices, such as bad housing, inadequate vaccination and high mortality possiblydue to multiple antibiotics resistance resulting from multiple antibiotics usage.

Keywords: assessment; constraints; disease; poultry; improvement; managementpractices

Introduction

The poultry industry in Nigeria constitutes an important agricultural enterprise to thenation, contributing substantially to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Perminet al., 1998; Ambali et al., 2003). The population of poultry (both local and exoticchickens) in Nigeria has been estimated at approximately 190 million (Orajaka, 2005). Itis generally believed that developing the poultry industry is a fast means of bridging theprotein deficiency prevalent in most developing countries of the world (Jibir and Usman,2003). It forms an appropriate system for supplying the fast-growing human populationwith high-quality protein (Permin et al., 1998; Guéye, 2004) whilst providing additionalincome to the generally resource-poor small holder farmers (Guéye, 2004), therebyhelping to alleviate poverty.Modern day commercial poultry production involves confinement (Ogundipe, 2002),

whilst rural poultry production involves free range (Van Eekeren et al., 1995; Orajaka,2005). Typically four management systems have been recognized: the free range orunimproved backyard, the improved backyard, the semi-intensive and the intensivesystems (Branckaert and Guéye, 2000, Guéye, 2004). The choice of system is largelydetermined by the availability of resources and inputs; such as housing, cages, feed,drugs, time/attention (Guéye, 2004) and vaccination.This important component of the agricultural sector continues to be fraught by

constraints related to high mortality, due mainly to viral, bacterial and fungalinfections (Abdu et al., 2005; Guéye, 2004; Oboegbulem et al., 1980;Chansiripornchai, 2004), housing, feeding, breeding, marketing and informationdissemination (Guéye, 2004), and in addition, resistance due to over-use of antibioticsby poultry farmers and /or production of resistance markers by the infective agents(personal communication).Disease prevention and control programs are limited in this industry, particularly in this

part of the country, and high mortality rates due to therapeutic failure are common,perhaps associated with treatment failures due to transferable drug resistance (Saeed etal., 2000; Deborah et al., 2005) even in vaccinated flocks (Ambali et al., 2003). Thispaper aimed at assessing some poultry management practices and disease recognition bypoultry farmers in Maiduguri, arid zone of Nigeria, with the view of improving thepoultry production in this part of the country.

Study area

The study was conducted in Maiduguri metropolis, capital of Borno State, Nigeria. TheMetropolis is made up of two local government areas (Jere and Maiduguri MetropolitanCouncil). It is located on longitude 135°E and latitude 115°N with a land mass of about50,778 square kilometres. It is the largest city in the North-Eastern region of Nigeria.Borno State is being bordered by the republics of Niger, Chad and Cameroun to theNorth, North-East and East respectively. Maiduguri lies in the Sahel savannah

Management and disease in Nigeria: M.S. Akidarju et al.

286 World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 66, June 2010

vegetational region. The climate is favourable with an annual maximum temperature of34.8°C: March and April are the hottest months with temperature range of 30-40°C. Thearea is usually cold and dry during harmattans (strong winds characteristic of the region),with November to January being the coldest months. Average annual rainfall is between88 and 108mm, the rainy season covering the months of June to October (Anon, 2006).The assessment was based on the administration of close-ended questionnaire which

sought information on poultry management practices, flock size, housing system,vaccination and recognition of signs of disease conditions amongst others. Twohundred and fifty copies of the questionnaire were given out to poultry farmers in thestudy area with the assistance of day-old-chicks sellers, poultry feed merchants andpoultry clinics of the State Veterinary Hospital and University of MaiduguriVeterinary Teaching Hospital.

Characteristics of poultry production

Out of the 250 questionnaires distributed, 173 (69.2%) were completed and returned.Table 1 shows the distribution of poultry farms maintained by farmers in relation to flocksize and age-groups of chickens.

Table 1 Distribution of poultry farms maintained by poultry farmers in Maiduguri in relation to flock sizeand age (N=173).

Age groups of chickens in weeks and number (%) of farms

Flock size 1-2 3-6 7-10 >10 MA Total

10-50 8 (19.0) 13 (28.6) 10 (23.8) 10 (23.8) 2 (4.8) 42 (24.3)1

51-100 6 (17.6) 10 (29.4) 6 (17.6) 10 (29.4) 2 (5.9) 34 (19.6)2

101-200 9 (23.1) 8 (20.5) 6 (15.4) 11 (28.2) 5 (12.8) 39 (22.5)1

201-500 6 (17.1) 6 (17.1) 9 (25.7) 7 (20.0) 7 (20.0) 35 (20.2)2

> 500 3 (13.0) 4 (17.4) 5 (21.7) 4 (17.4) 7 (30.4) 23 (13.3)3

Total 32 (18.5)e 40 (23.1)d 36 (20.8)e 42 (24.3)d 23 (13.3)f 173 (100)

Figures in parentheses are percentages.Mean values with different superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05).MA= multi-age

The rearing system practiced in Maiduguri by poultry farmers is shown in Table 2.Farmers who practice the deep litter confinement system were highest in number withn=143 (82.7%), followed by those who used cage confinement system (n=22; 12.7%),whilst those that practiced the free range or extensive system were the lowest in number(n=8; 4.6%).

Table 2 Rearing systems practiced by poultry farmers (N = 173) in Maiduguri.

Rearing system Number (% of respondents

Deep litter confinement system 143 (82.7)1

Cage confinement system 22 (12.7)2

Extensive (free range) system 8 (4.6)3

Total 173 (100)

Mean values with different superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05).


World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 66, June 2010 287

Table 3 shows the types of housing units maintained by the respondent farmers. Half-zinc half-wire mesh open-sided housing proved most popular (47.7%), followed by half-block half-wire mesh open-sided houses (20.8%), whilst half-wood half-wire mesh open-sided (2.9%) houses were the least popular. Only 21 (12.1%) respondents kept birds inwindowed closed-sided houses, whilst those that used local and battery cage housingsystems accounted for 11.6% and 1.2% of respondents respectively. The different typesof poultry houses maintained by poultry farmers in Maiduguri are shown in Figure 1.

Table 3 Poultry housing systems (type of housing units) maintained by farmers in Maiduguri (N=173).

Type of housing unit* Number (%) of farms

Half-block half-wire mesh open-sided house 36 (20.8)2

Half-zinc half-wire mesh open-sided house 82 (47.4)1

Half-wood half-wire mesh open-sided house 5 (2.9)3

Windowed close-sided house 21 (12.1)4

Local cage 20 (11.6)4

Battery cage 2 (1.2)5

No response 7 (4.1)Total 173 (100)

*Houses roofed with galvanized iron sheet (zinc).Mean values with different superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05)

Table 4 shows vaccination levels and antibiotics usage in poultry rearing from theproducers answering the questionnaire. The majority of farms had only incompletevaccination schedules, and some reported that no vaccinations occurred. On the otherhand, farms in which multiple antibiotic combinations use was common differed fromthose in which double or single antibiotics combination use were common. However,there was no difference between farms in which double antibiotic combinations were inuse and those in which single antibiotics were in use. This may result from moreintelligent and judicial use of these antibiotics by the two categories of farmers: theeffect of antibiotics being determined by the dose, dosage, concentration, level and rate orfrequency of use and duration of administration amongst other things.Table 5 shows disease recognition by poultry farmers in Maiduguri, whereby the

producers were asked to confirm their familiarity with certain disease symptoms andits link to specific disease. Figure 2 and 3 show some typical examples of diseaseconditions easily recognized by the producers.



(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Figure 1 Types of poultry houses maintained by poultry farmers in Maiduguri.(a) Half block half wire mesh open-sided house; (b) half zinc half wire mesh open-sided house(c) Half wood half wire mesh open-sided house. (d) windowed closed-sided house(e) Battery cage; (f) local cage



Table 4 Vaccinations and use of antibiotics in poultry by poultry farmers in Maiduguri (N = 173).

Variable Number (%) of respondents

Vaccination*Complete vaccinationa 48 (27.8)Incomplete vaccinationb 98 (56.7)No vaccinationc 27 (15.6)Total 173 (100)Use of antibioticsKeproceryl 24 (13.9)Neoceryl plus 30 (17.3)Neofuraseryl plus 14 (8.1)Pantacox 13 (7.5)Neotreat 7 (4.1)Tylodox 17 (9.8)Gentadox 16 (9.3)Tylosin 12 (6.9)Polytonine A 8 (4.6)Terramycin formula 29 (16.8)Enrofloxacin 3 (1.7)Total 173 (100)

*Vaccinations against major poultry diseases endemic in this area (Infectious bursal disease, Newcastle disease,Fowl cholera, Fowl typhoid, and Fowl pox)aHave vaccinated birds against all the 5 major diseases above with full adherence to vaccination schedulesbHave vaccinated birds against all or some of the major diseases but with no adherence to vaccination schedulescHave not attempted vaccination even with single dose of vaccine against any of the diseases.

Table 5 Confirmed disease recognition and incidence of mortality as reported by poultry farmers inMaiduguri.

Variable Number (%) of respondents

Skin abrasions 5 (2.9)Swelling in the footpads 11 (6.4)Lameness (14 (8.1)Sitting on the hock 6 (3.5)Depression (dejection) 41 (23.7)Enteritis (diarrhoea) 69 (39.9)Swelling of head and eyes 12 (6.9)Coughing 35 (20.2)Respiratory rales/panting 47 (27.2)Pecking (cannibalism) 27 (15.6)Drooling saliva 12 (6.9)Torticolis (twisting of the neck) 9 (5.2)Prostration 8 (4.6)Ruffled feathers 55 (31.8)13

Total* 351Mortality patternsSudden mortality 59 (34.1)Sporadic mortality 37 (21.4)No or very minimal mortality 25 (14.5)No response 52 (30.1)Total 173 (100)

*Majority of farmers indicated recognition of more than one sign of disease ( hence, total > 173).



A B

Figure 2 Swollen digital pads (digital pad dermatitis) in a laying hen.(A) Plantar view; (B) Dorsal view

Figure 3 Poultry vices (cannibalism or pecking) amongst laying hens.

Discussion

Poultry production has undergone rapid changes during the past decades due to theintroduction of modern intensive systems of production which places a high premiumon health care, hygiene and management with a small but highly skilled labour force(FAO, 2000). Poultry production is growing fast, with annual production rate of 3.7%over the past decade. As a consequence, the vast majority of chickens and turkeys arenow produced in houses with 15,000–50,000 birds in industrialised countries (FAO,2007). Globally, the per capita egg consumption for the year 2015 is projected to be9.8 kg with additional demand for 12,007 million tons of eggs, with 12.3% of that needarising in Africa (Windhorst, 2008). In Nigeria, the projection has been set at 3.3 kg withadditional demand of 113.4 million tons of eggs (Windhorst, 2008).The study reported above showed, unsurprisingly, that small scale (small-holder flocks)

production was most commonly practiced in Maiduguri, where the majority of farmers



kept less than 500 chickens in a flock. The study also showed that deep litter was themost common poultry rearing system in the study area. This observation is in line withthe trend reported in United States (May et al., 1982), western-Europe (Lokhorst, 1996)and Switzerland (Gunnarsson et al., 1999) where the cage system was phased out inpractice by legislation in 1991 with minimal use of conventional cages. In Europe inparticular, research continues into the details of alternative housing systems for layinghens, following the ban on conventional cages from 2012 (Hetland and Svihus, 2007).Interest in alternative housing systems for laying hens has increased in recent years

mainly because of public concern for the welfare of hens in cages. A Dutch study showedthat chickens kept on wire floors peck more than those reared on litter (Gunnarsson et al.,1999). It was also shown that early exposure to litter and quality of litter during rearingare important to prevent feather pecking in adult layers (Gunnarsson et al., 1999). Thismay probably explain the reason why rearing birds on litter was observed in this study asthe most common system of management amongst poultry farmers in Maiduguri. Thedeep litter system is relatively convenient, with less injuries to chickens and encouragesproduction (May et al., 1982). The use of deep litter, which results in consumption ofwood shavings by chickens, was also said to cause a remarkable reduction in the particlesize of digesta passing from the gizzard, reduce feed consumption and increase efficiencyin both broilers and layers (Hetland and Svihus, 2007). Very few farmers practice thecage system in this area, probably because of the conclusion that welfare of birds arecompromised more in cages than in well-run alternative systems such as deep litter. Thismay probably be due to behavioural restrictions and environmental deficienciesmanifested by abnormal behaviour patterns such as, feather pecking, cannibalism,sham- dust bathing, stereotyping and hysteria in the cages as reported by Hansen(1994). It may be due to the cost or availability of cages, or due to adverse effectson bone strength in battery caged birds compared to litter-reared birds (Fleming et al.,1994). The result of the present study also showed that 83% of the flocks managed in thisarea were reared on litter, which is in agreement with previous studies (May et. al., 1982;Lindberg and Nicol, 1996). This result is also supported by the fact that carcass quality iscompromised more in caged birds than in litter-reared birds (Hansen, 1994), and thatcondition scores for broilers on litter are greater than for those reared in cages (May etal., 1982). Only 8(4.6%) of the 173 poultry farmers in Maiduguri practice the free rangeor extensive management system. This perhaps may be due to the possible risks offracture birds which are kept by extensive management system may be exposed to asa result of greater opportunity for more severe accidents than in litter management system(Fleming et al., 1994). However, confined poultry housing can produce large amounts ofwaste, which may contain substantial quantities of pathogens (FAO, 2007). Much of thiswaste is being disposed off in the environment untreated, and which may pose aninfection risk for both domestic and wild animals and birds.The poultry housing systems used in Maiduguri is not comparable to housing

elsewhere in this country or abroad. Poultry houses are erected by farmers accordingto their tastes or depend upon their resources and environmental influences (Van Eekerenet al., 1995; Van Beek and Beeking, 1995; AgVet, 2002). The most commonly observedhousing systems in this area were the half-zinc half-wire mesh open-sided buildings(47.4%) and the half block–half wire mesh open-sided buildings (21%). The climate,cost of materials and the presence of pests, particularly termites, have becomedeterminants in poultry housing system in Maiduguri Metropolis. The area is infestedby termites and this may account for the reason why wooden housing system (2.9%) wasleast utilized by poultry farmers as observed in the present study. Heat stress in poultrymanifests itself in insulated poultry houses (Sahin and Kucuk, 2003), and in poultryhouses made solely with zinc sheets in many parts of the world, particularly countries



with hot climates (as experienced in the study area). Stress factors from environmentalsources are generally recognized to have a major impact on body weight and eggproduction. Higher environmental temperatures have deleterious effects on poultry,reducing rate of growth, feed intake, live weight gain and feed efficiency, digestibilityof nutrients, egg production, egg weight etc. (Sahin and Kucuk, 2003). More severe stresscan result in body temperature rising to fatal levels, especially in birds kept in poultryhouses made completely of zinc or galvanizing roofing sheets (as superstructure as wellas the roof).The present study also showed that only 27.8% of the poultry farmers (N = 173)

observed full adherence to vaccination schedules for their chickens, as against 56.7%non-adherence. There is therefore the need to enlighten poultry farmers on the endemicpoultry diseases in this region and the dangers they pose; as has been practiced elsewhere(Adene, 1997, Abdu et al., 2005). Diarrhoea (39.9%), ruffled feathers (31.8%), pecking(27.2%), depression (23.7%) and respiratory rales/panting (20.2%) were the mostcommonly encountered signs of disease conditions by farmers in the study area. Thisperhaps may be predisposed by weather or poor management practices. It has beenreported that high environmental temperature decreases rates of retention of calcium,iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium and zinc in broilers, and this can lead to diarrhoea,depression, ruffled feathers and increased respiratory rates and panting observed in thisstudy. Keeping birds in open-sided block houses increases ventilation rates and use ofevaporative systems such as fan in enclosed poultry houses as well as lowering stockingdensities have been said to help alleviate the negative effects of heat stress in chickens.Other factors that may predispose these signs and such signs as coughing, lameness,digital pad dermatitis observed in the present study include microbial infections.Several systems for scoring the presence and severity of foot pad dermatitis or avian

pododermatitis exist (Mayne et al., 2007; Hocking et al., 2008). These generally arebased on a subjective assessment of the area of the food pad that is affected by the lesion(s). Based on the scoring system (Hocking et al., 2008) the foot pad dermatitis observedin the present study was given a score 1. The prevalence of foot pad dermatitis inchickens especially broilers, had been proposed to be used as one of the main criteriaof welfare on which future stocking density for specific farms would be based (Hockinget al., 2008). The assessment of foot pad dermatitis has also been proposed as aparameter for cross –national comparisons of management systems, feeds andhusbandry practices (Hocking et al., 2008).Though immune and chemotherapeutic measures have become part of poultry

management practice in Nigeria, most poultry diseases still remain endemic in thecountry (Ambali et al., 2003). The use of antibiotics as feed additive for growthpromotion and disease control in domestic animals has increased over the years (Vanden Bogaard and Stobberingh, 1999). This practice has resulted in an increase inantibiotic resistance by some intestinal bacteria of domestic animals (Swezey et al.,1981; Saeed et al., 2000) including poultry. In addition to the increase in resistance ithas been demonstrated that antibiotics may have a detrimental effect on the animal body(Swezey et al., 1981). It was reported that the use of tetracycline in poultry caused aninhibition of immunoglobulin synthesis (Swezey et al., 1981; Van den Bogaard andStobberingh, 1999). Similarly, as a result of chlortetracycline in feeds, therapeuticfailure of this drug was documented in cases of colibacillosis in pigs (Swezey et al.,1981). It was also observed in a study with turkeys that the use of tetracycline as feedssupplement increased antibiotic resistance level in bacteria present in the liver and bloodof these species, and that the degree of resistance in isolates correlated with the level ofantibiotic concentration administered to the birds (Swezey et al., 1981). Farmers inMaiduguri may likely face similar resistance problems as most of them are in the



habit of using multiple antibiotics as chemo-prophylactic measures. This is evident fromthe widespread application of antibiotics in poultry by poultry farmers, observed in thepresent study.In conclusion, the trend towards industrialization of poultry production can be observed

in developing countries, where traditional systems of management are being replaced byintensive management practice, most notably in South America, Asia, Europe and partsof Africa including Nigeria. Global animal food production is undergoing a majortransformation that could lead to a higher risk of transferable drug-resistant infectionsfrom animals to humans. The movement of poultry and the concentration of thousands ofconfined birds may increase the likelihood of transfer of the infective agents. The greatestthreat to the poultry industry is currently the global epidemic and dissemination of theinfluenza virus H5N1 strain. The present study has revealed some management practicessuch as housing and inadequate coverage of vaccination schedules to still pose seriousconstraints to poultry industry in the study area. The need to educate poultry farmers inthis region on better housing system, management and adequate vaccination program isparamount, if disease control, eradication and profitability needed to be achieved. Theindiscriminate use of antibiotics by poultry farmers in this region and in the country as awhole should be discouraged, particularly for chemoprophylaxis rather thanchemotherapy as this could lead to the emergence of many bacteria with multipledrug resistant strains. Also, guidelines for the prudent use of antibiotics in conjunctionwith the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)should be enforced in Nigeria in order to eliminate drug residues in chicken meat whichmay confer resistance in humans.

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Small-Scale Family Poultry Production An assessment of some poultry management practices and disease recognition by poultry farmers in Maiduguri arid zone, Nigeria

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