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Studies on increasing the population of indigenous backyard poultry in

Nigeria: 1. A preliminary report
Olubamiwa O. ; and Fadiyimu A. A.

College of Agric Sciences, Department of Animal Science,

Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria.

E-mail: olubamiwa@yahoo.com

Abstract

This study was initiated consequent upon observations by the authors that most chicks from
free range indigenous backyard poultry die within the first two months of life. Chick mortality
was investigated from day old to six weeks in confinement and six weeks post confinement.
Five point - of - lay pullets from the same hen of the indigenous backyard poultry (IBP) strain
were used for chick production (laying, incubation and hatching). The study was carried out in
Ibadan, south west Nigeria. A total of 30 chicks were hatched out of the 37 eggs laid by the
five pullets. The chicks were transferred into a cage with the dimension of 1.5×2.0 m2. They
were fed pullet growers mash and water ad libitum during the six weeks in the cage. Rearing
was free range during the post - confinement period. Average mortality rate of chicks from day
old to 12 weeks from the hens was 13.7%. It was concluded that this novel rearing system
resulted in lowered chick mortality compared with the traditional system in which 70-80%
mortality have been reported from chicks hatched by free range hens. The authors recommend
the replication of the experiment on a larger scale. If the result obtained in the present study is
confirmed, it will no doubt revolutionize IBP farming in Nigeria particularly and West Africa
in general.

Key words: Indigenous backyard poultry, lowering chick mortality, increasing bird population

Introduction

The indigenous backyard poultry (IBP) is very common in West Africa. The birds are hardy,
free ranging, relatively more tolerant to diseases and have ready markets. They are kept on a
very small scale in most villages and small towns. The major focus of rearing includes meat
supply for routine purpose, celebrations and festivals. The free-range. micro-scale focus is
characterized by dearth of record keeping, low profit and high chick mortality. Many of the
hens loose 70 – 80% of their chicks in the first two to three months of life (Ramdas, 2009). It is
not uncommon to see brooding hens that have lost all chicks. The predisposing factors include
rainfall, cold, hot weather, hawks, rodents, diseases, etc. It is very interesting that in spite of the
high chick mortality, the practice has continued to date from ages.

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The birds are the unimproved varieties of the domestic poultry. According to Conroy et al.
(2005),they have small body size, low egg production (thirty six to sixty eggs annually), poor
body weight gain but the meat has low abdominal fat and is more palatable to the host
communities.

It is apparent that if 50% of the hatched chicks could survive to market weight, a revolution
would occur in IBP rearing in the land. The objective of this study was to investigate a simple,
practical way of achieving this. The idea was to consider a rearing method that would minimize
mortality from day old to two to three months of age. Basically, most of the predatory factors
are more potent while the birds are very young. From twelve weeks old, most of the birds are
more likely to resist falling prey to sun, rain, rats, hawks and diseases.

Materials and Methods

Experimental Birds: Five point - of - lay pullets from the same hen of the indigenous backyard
poultry strain were purchased from the open market in Ibadan, south west Nigeria. They were
restrained for one week in a residential compound during which they were given grains of
maize and kitchen wastes. Drinking water was provided in a plastic bowl placed near their
location. Thereafter they were released on free range but at night were confined in a woven
basket within the compound. During this period the pullets had unrestrained access to free
ranging cocks in the neighbourhood.

Experimental Outlay: The experiment had five treatments with each pullet constituting a
treatment. As soon as it was observed from the clucking of the birds that they were at the onset
of lay, five medium-sized pots (half-filled with dry sand and each big enough to contain one
pullet together with laid eggs) were placed in a store room within the residential
compound.The store also housed a cage for the chicks. Soon, each pullet started laying in a
specific pot.The number of eggs laid per pullet was recorded while ensuring that the eggs were
not touched with bare hands to achieve successful incubation and hatching. After hatching the
chicks were transferred to the cage. The unhatched eggs were removed and discarded while the
pots were emptied, cleaned and disinfected in readiness for the next round of laying and
incubation. Percentage hatchability was calculated from the number of eggs incubated and the
number hatched. Chick mortality per pullet was recorded during the six - week confinement
period and another six - week post confinement duration. Within the cage, the chicks were
served growers mash (the cheapest commercial feed available) and water ad libitum. Each
chick per treatment was tagged for identification.

Results

A total of thirty seven eggs were laid by the pullets as shown in Table 1. Average egg laid was
7 while mean percentage hatchability was 81.3%. Three chicks died within the first four weeks

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in the cage while four mortalities were recorded post confinement. Average percentage
mortality up to twelve weeks was 13.7%.

Conclusion

The relatively low (approximately 14%) average chick mortality from day old to twelve weeks
obtained in this study among the five hens is of significant note. This is because a very high
mortality (70 – 80%) typifies the extensive rearing systems of IBP in developing countries
(Ramdas, 2009).The rearing method used in this study apparently ensured lower chick
mortality. Consequently, an adoption of this method has the potential to boost chick survival
and the number of birds reared to market weight. There is no doubt that the six- week chick
confinement post- hatching was the factor behind the higher survival rate. It is common
knowledge that in the traditional IBP rearing, highest chick mortality is usually recorded in the
early stages of rearing (Mandal et al., 2006). The high mortality is usually due to cold, rain, hot
weather, predatory birds, rodents, etc. Unfortunately,there is a dearth of developed systematic
strategy in the land to reduce the high mortality.The few traditional methods available such as
dying the chicks to ward off attacks by hawks have not been widely adopted probably due to
non-affordability of dyes in the rural areas. Moreover, although dying may lower predation by
hawks, it does not offer protection from cold, rain, hot weather, rodents, etc. In contrast, the
rearing method used in this study is simple, low -cost and requires little space, which according
to Mandal et al. (2006) are factors that make poultry farming remunerative in both rural and
urban areas . The system therefore holds a big prospect for improvement of IBP rearing in
West Africa. It is recommended that the experiment should be replicated in different agro-
ecological zones to adapt for climatic differences with a view to arriving at the best options
towards maximizing the advantage of the system.

Table 1: Hen performance and chick mortality

Parameter Treatments
1 2 3 4 5
No of pullets 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
No of eggs laid 8.0 9.0 7.0 6.0 7.0
No of eggs hatched 6.0 7.0 6.0 5.0 6.0
% hatchability 75.0 77.8 85.7 83.3 85.7
Chick mortality (in confinement) 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 1.0
% mortality (in confinement) 16.6 14.3 16.6 0.0 16.6
Chick mortality (post confinement) 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 1.0
% mortality (post confinement) 20.0 16.6 16.6 0.0 20.0
Average % mortality (day-old to 12 weeks) 18.3 15.5 16.6 0.0 18.3

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References

Conroy, C.; Sparks, N.;Chandrasekaran, D.; Sharma, A.,; Shindey,

D.,;Singh,L.R.;Natarajan,A.,; and Anitha,K. ,2005. Improving backyard poultry-keeping:
A case study from India.Agricultural Research & Extension Network Paper No 146.

Mandal, M. K.;Khandekar, N. and Khandekar, P. ,2006. Backyard poultry farming in

Bareilly District of Uttar Pradesh, India: An analysis. Livestock Research for Rural
Development, 18(7).

Ramdas, S. R., 2009.Reclaiming endangered livelihoods: Untold stories of indigenous

women andbackyard poultry. World's Poult. Sci Jnl, 65:241 – 249.

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