Assessment of Urban poultry Production Practices in Addis Ababa With Emphasis on Egg production, Product Marketing, Feed Quality and Waste Management
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Date
2016-05
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Addis Ababauniversity
Abstract
The study was conducted with the objectives of assessing the existing poultry production
systems and constraints in Addis Ababa and identifying potential intervention areas for
improving the performance of the enterprise. A two-stage sampling technique was used to
select Sub-cities and poultry farmers. A total of 156 poultry farmers were included in the
study. For egg quality analysis, a total of 120 eggs were collected from four groups of farms
(30 eggs from each group) based on their formulated feed sources. Four major formulated
layers feed samples were subjected to nutrient composition analysis. For the marketing
survey, 30 local retail shops, 30 collectors and 30 supermarkets were included. For poultry
products utilization assessment, 25 restaurants, 25 pastries and 25 snack houses and 105
urban consumers were included. Most of the households (57.1%) were female-headed. The
poultry farmers obtained foundation and replacement stock from privately owned large
scale poultry farms. Most of the poultry farmers (62.2%) used the floor system of housing
while 37.8% used the cage system. None of the poultry farmers did use home-mixed ration
due to lack of knowledge (89.1%), unavailability of ingredients (7.7%) and high cost of
ingredients (3.2%). The common poultry diseases in the study area were Gumboro,
Newcastle, Mareks, Fowl pox, Salmonella, Ecoli, Food cholera, Mycoplasmosis and
Coccidiosis. Egg production performance was affected by family size, educational level,
housing system and flock size (p<0.05). Layer birds kept in cages laid the first egg and
attained peak of lay earlier than those kept on floor housing. Percent hen-day (HDEP) and
hen-housed egg production (HHEP) increased with increasing flock size. Significantly
higher (p<0.01) HDEP and HHEP were also recorded in cage compared to the floor
system. Birds in cages and larger size flocks laid for a significantly (P<0.01) longer period.
Mortality rate was higher in flocks of less than 151 birds (p<0.05). A higher mortality rate
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was also recorded for birds reared on floor than those on cage housing systems. The crude
protein, metabolizable energy, crude fiber, ash, ether extract and Ca levels of the formulated
layer feeds considered was above the minimum nutrient level recommended for layer birds.
Most external and internal egg quality traits were affected by feed sources and housing
system (p<0.05). The price of eggs and spent layers were significantly varying (p<0.05) in
different occasions at different market centers while the price of eggs was not significantly
different (p>0.05) at supermarkets. Currently, the price offered for eggs obtained from
exotic chicken has become higher than that of the eggs from local chicken. The restaurants
and pastries mainly preferred the exotic chicken egg while the snacks houses preferred the
local chicken egg. High price of eggs is one of the main marketing constraints that the
restaurants, pastries, and snacks houses faced. Manure was found to be the major waste of
poultry farms followed by litter/manure mix and dead birds. The nuisance odour of poultry
droppings (1st), lack of convenient dump site (2nd), lack of market for selling the
manure/litter (3rd) are the main constraints of waste disposal. The high prices of feed (1st),
shortage of land (2nd), unavailability of pullets in time (3rd) are the major constraints of
small scale intensive urban poultry production. Flock size was significantly affected by age
(p<0.05), family size (p<0.01), educational level (p<0.05) and farming experience
(p<0.001) of the household heads while sex, sideline business and housing system had no
significant effect (p>0.05). The increase in demand for table eggs laid by exotic chicken
owing to the increase in number of hotels, restaurants and pastries is an opportunity for
urban poultry farming. Using cage housing system and having large flock is more
advantageous than rearing birds in floor housing system with small flock size in terms of
producing dozens of eggs, reducing the chance of bird’s mortality and efficient use of land.
Formulated feed sources and housing system influenced the quality of the eggs. Only very
small number of farmers benefited from sells of manure/litter. The dominant constraint of
urban poultry production was high price of feed. Thus, concerned bodies should design a
platform for the development of the poultry sub-sector considering the existing urban
poultry production practices for its contribution for income generation, job creation and
fulfilling the protein demand of the urban dwellers.
Key words: Egg production, Laying strains, Small scale system, Marketing, Poultry waste
Description
Keywords
Egg production, Laying strains, Small scale system, Marketing, Poultry waste