Commercial chick brooding practices among urban and peri-urban smallholder poultry farmers in Wakiso district

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted with the objectives of determining the management practices carried out by chick brooding poultry farmers and the challenges faced by those poultry farmers in Mende sub county and Wakiso Town Council in Wakiso District. 284 randomly selected participants were included in this study from the two sub counties. The Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and observation and was analyzed using SPSS Version 21. The study showed that 98% of poultry farmers used floor brooding and most of them(42%)reared broiler chicks, followed by layer chicks (29%) and kroilers chicks (29%). The most common litter materials used were coffee husks (56%) followed by woods havings (38%). 59.2% The majority (60%) of the respondents cleaned the brooding house immediately after destocking, (29%) cleaned it less than a week after destocking, (6%) cleaned the house 1-2 weeks after destocking, (2%) cleaned2-3weeks after destocking and a month after destocking. More than half (64%) of the farmers purchased commercial feeds, 33% mixed their own feeds while others(3%)purchased and supplemented with own farm made feeds. Whereas (70%) of there spondents were keeping records, (30%) did not keep records. It was also found that (65%) of the respondents mentioned 24 hours of lighting while (35%) said12hours was their duration of lighting. Newcastle disease, Marek’s disease and Gumboro Vaccines were the most administered vaccines (33%). Some of the major challenges faced in brooding chicks included high cost of feed (49%) and sudden deaths (13%) in the brooder house. The study showed that many poultry farmers were aware of the proper management practices required for raising chicks in a brooder but where reluctant to follow these practices for various reasons. Therefore, it was recommended that farmers attend trainings and workshops to better understand the importance and value of the appropriate management practices to increase the economic potential of their farms.