RURAL POULTRY PRODUCTION IN TWO AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES OF

RURAL POULTRY PRODUCTION IN TWO AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES OF UGANDA. A baseline study on rural poultry production, management and health was conducted in six selected villages in an agro-pastoral and montane zone of Uganda during the wet and dry season. In the 114 rural households visited, the farmers were interviewed by using a questionnaire. Poultry flocks were examined and samples were collected for laboratory investigations. A free-range management system with mixed poultry species was practiced by farmers in both zones. The major poultry flock parameters in the agro-pastoral and montane zone were, respectively, mean flock size of 22 (with a range of 3-65) and 17.5 (with a range of 6-60); mean hen:cock ratio of 2.6 to 1 and 4.8 to 1; mean egg production per hen per year of 8.8 and 11.5; mean hatchability of 70.8 % and 85.7%; mean chick mortality of 39.6 % and 28.6%. The flock ownership was single, mixed or shared among family households. Women were more involved in most of the activities regarding poultry management, although in both zones a division of labour existed within the household. Men predominantly made the decisions on sale, consumption and treatment of poultry. The most important health problems in the flocks in both zones in the two seasons were coughing, diarrhoea, fowl pox and internal parasites. It was concluded that the major constraints affecting rural poultry production in the two zones were diseases especially Newcastle disease and parasites, inadequate housing and poor feed supplementation especially in the dry season. Women had important responsibilities in rural poultry production in the two zones. The findings form the basis for an assessment of the effects of interventions on rural poultry production in the two zones. 1