Nutritional status nutrient requirements and gastro intestinal development of scavenging village chickens in the Vhembe District Municipality Limpopo Province

In rural communities of the Vhembe District, South Africa, poultry production is based on traditional scavenging systems at household level and chickens are kept for religious, cultural considerations, supply of negligible income and high quality food protein in the form of meat and eggs. Four experiments were conducted with the aim to improve FRIS chickens in rural communities. In the first experiment, 288 FRIS chickens were randomly purchased from six rural villages over three seasons (autumn, winter and spring) and sacrificed for crop content analysis. The FRIS chickens consumed grains, kitchen wastes, seeds from the environment, plant materials, worms and insects and some undistinguishable materials. The CP of the crop contents of grower and adult chickens were 123 g\kg DM and 118 g\kg DM, respectively. Concentrations of Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn and Co were above the requirements of poultry and might pose risks to FRIS chickens health. For the second experiment, 117 FRIS chicks, 13 per age class (day 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28) were randomly purchased from six rural villages in the Vhembe District, to evaluate development of the digestive tract and to determine the growth performance up to 20 weeks of age. The relative weight of the storage organs (crop, proventriculus and gizzard) and liver peaked at day 4 while small intestine and duodenum peaked at day 10. The FRIS chickens under village management were characterised by slow digestive tract development, growth performance and high mortalities. In the subsequent experiment, four FRIS chickens (1 young male and 1 young female of 10-16 weeks of age; a mature cockerel and a mature hen) were randomly purchased from each of six adjacent rural villages during three different seasons (autumn, winter and spring) to determine the meat yield and carcass chemical composition. The carcass weight, dressing %, mass of the breast, mass of the thighs, mass of the drumsticks, breast yield, thighs yield and drumsticks yield of both grower and adult FRIS chickens were not influenced by season. The meat from FRIS chickens provided a constant nutrient supply throughout the year to the rural communities. Lastly, freshly laid eggs of FRIS chickens purchased in rural villages of the Vhembe District, were hatched and randomly distributed to 27 floor pens, to determine the nutrient requirements in terms of dietary protein and metabolisable energy for growth of the indigenous chickens. During the starter and grower phases, unsexed FRIS chickens would require a dietary combinations of 170 g/kg CP and 11.0 AME MJ/kg and 150 g/kg CP and 12 AME MJ/kg in their diets to optimise weight gain and FCR and 150 g/kg and 11.3 MJ/kg to optimise ash content of muscles, protein content of the breast and fat content of the leg muscle. Protein deficit of 27 g/kg for growers between feed resource base for scavenging chickens in the rural villages and the required nutrients has to be compensated with supplemental feed. It can be recommended that supplementation of 27 g/kg to grower scavenging chickens, respectively, would be enough to improve chicken production in the rural villages. Locally available feed resources high in protein like groundnuts, beans, meat and bone scraps and insects should be used as supplement to compensate nutrient deficit intake and also to reduce input costs.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.Animal and Wildlife SciencesPhDUnrestricte

Growth performance and digestive tract development of indigenous scavenging chickens under village management

The study was conducted on indigenous scavenging chickens under village management firstly, to evaluate the early development of the digestive tract to 28 days of age and secondly, to determine the growth performance of these chickens up to 20 weeks of age. One hundred and seventeen chicks, 13 chicks per age class (day 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28) were randomly purchased from six rural villages in the Vhembe District, Venda, South Africa. The chickens were weighed and sacrificed for measurement of the different parts of its gastrointestinal tract. The liver and pancreas were also weighed. The relative weight of the storage organs and liver peaked at day 4 while that of the small intestine and duodenum peaked at day 10. The relative lengths of the small intestine and jejunum peaked at day 7, duodenum at day 10 and ileum at day 4. Four hundred and forty four (444) chicks from 13 households were recorded at two weekly intervals starting from day old until 20 weeks of age. The mean body weight obtained for males and females were 201.7 and 171.5 g at six weeks of age and 1048.1 and 658.6 g at 20 weeks of age, respectively. The indigenous chickens under village management were characterised by slow digestive tract development, poor growth performance and high mortalities. Further research needs to be conducted to determine the effect of early feed supplementation on the development of the digestive tract and the performance of indigenous chickens under village management

Dietary protein and energy requirements of Venda village chickens

The objective of this study was to determine the dietary protein and apparent metabolisable energy (AME) requirements of local chickens. Freshly laid eggs of scavenging chickens collected in rural villages were hatched and randomly distributed to 27 floor pens, 10 chicks per pen. Chicks were fed 9 experimental diets that were combinations of three CP levels (140, 170 and 190 g kg−1 DM) and three AME levels (11.0, 11.7 and 12 MJ kg−1) during the starter phase (0–6 weeks) and combinations of three CP levels (120, 150 and 180 g kg−1 DM) and three ME levels (11.3, 12.0 and 12.4 MJ kg−1) during the grower phase (7–17) weeks. Significant differences within means on CP × AME interaction effect were observed in all parameters measured, except feed intake during starter period and dressing percentage (%) and breast yield of 17 weeks old chickens. The results of the present study indicated that during the starter and grower phases, unsexed chickens would require dietary combinations of 170 g CP kg−1 and 11.0 AME MJ kg−1 and 150 g CP kg−1 and 12 AME MJ kg−1 in their diets to optimise weight gain and FCR, and 150 g CP kg−1 and 11.3 MJ kg−1 to optimise ash content of muscles, protein content of the breast and fat content of the leg muscle. Supplementation of 27 g CP kg−1 feed to grower scavenging chickens would be enough to improve chicken production in the rural villages

Dietary protein and energy requirements of Venda village chickens

The objective of this study was to determine the dietary protein and apparent metabolisable energy (AME) requirements of local chickens. Freshly laid eggs of scavenging chickens collected in rural villages were hatched and randomly distributed to 27 floor pens, 10 chicks per pen. Chicks were fed 9 experimental diets that were combinations of three CP levels (140, 170 and 190 g kg−1 DM) and three AME levels (11.0, 11.7 and 12MJ kg −1) during the starter phase (0–6 weeks) and combinations of three CP levels (120, 150 and 180 g kg −1 DM) and three ME levels (11.3, 12.0 and 12.4MJ kg−1) during the grower phase (7–17) weeks. Significant differences within means on CP ×AME interaction effect were observed in all parameters measured, except feed intake during starter period and dressing percentage (%) and breast yield of 17 weeks old chickens. The results of the present study indicated that during the starter and grower phases, unsexed chickens would require dietary combinations of 170 g CP kg −1 and 11.0 AMEMJ kg−1 and 150 g CP kg−1 and 12 AMEMJ kg−1 in their diets to optimise weight gain and FCR, and 150gCPkg−1 and 11.3MJ kg−1 to optimise ash content of muscles, protein content of the breast and fat content of the leg muscle. Supplementation of 27 g CP kg−1 feed to grower scavenging chickens would be enough to improve chicken production in the rural villages.We are grateful to the National Research Foundation (NRF) for financial support of the present study, indigenous chicken’s farmers and the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development officials for their assistance in this study.The National Research Foundation (NRF)http://www.jarts.infoam2018Animal and Wildlife Science

Carcass composition of Venda indigenous scavenging chickens under village management

Four Venda indigenous scavenging (VIS) chickens (one young male and one young female of 10–16 weeks of age, a mature cockerel and a mature hen) were randomly purchased from each of six adjacent rural villages during three different seasons (autumn, winter and spring) to determine the meat yield and carcass chemical composition. A total of 72 chickens were slaughtered and feathers, head, neck, viscera, feet and lungs were removed. The live body weight, dressed carcass weight and also the mass of the breast without wings, thighs and drumsticks were recorded with bones and skin. The muscle tissues of the breast and both legs without tendons and fat were sampled for chemical analysis and were analysed for dry matter, ether extract, crude protein and ash. The carcass weight, dressing %, mass of the breast, mass of the thighs, mass of the drumsticks, breast yield, thighs yield and drumsticks yield of both grower and adult VIS chickens were not influenced by season. The crude protein of the grower chickens breast muscles and fat content of the adult chicken leg muscles differed with season. The meat from VIS chickens provided a constant nutrient (crude protein) supply throughout the year to the rural communities

An Assessment of Economic Sustainability and Efficiency in Small-Scale Broiler Farms in Limpopo Province: A Review

An important factor in determining the success of a small-scale broiler farm is its economic viability and efficiency. During times of trouble for the industry, the idea receives more attention. The conceptual considerations of economic sustainability and efficiency are frequently quite constrained, according to the difficulties raised in this study and by other authors. There is a lack of information about South Africa’s small-scale broiler production’s economic viability and effectiveness. Furthermore, it is clear that small-scale broiler producers have the ability to increase their economic efficiency. By reducing the mortality rate, feed conversion rate, and production duration, both their technical and financial efficiency could be improved. Profitability in the production of broilers will be considerably increased by lowering the cost of these variable inputs, particularly feed and day-old chicks. Additionally, raising the education level, capacity utilization ratio, and broiler production would all contribute to raising the farms’ efficiency levels. To ensure effective resource use and to maximize practicable profit, small-scale broiler producers who are not operating close to the profit frontier must make efforts to reduce both technical and allocation inefficiencies. Collectively, all these measures would ensure the economic sustainability of small-scale farmers in South Africa would be met. Moreover, the sustainability of small-scale broiler producers can be achieved if strategies that build local capacity and that empower them to sustain high levels of productivity are provided. In addition, the efficient use of resources will ensure that productivity is enhanced, and might increase profitability. It is therefore important to ensure that small-scale broiler producers achieve maximum profit for a given set of inputs. Approaches in assessing the farm-level profitability such as cost-benefit and gross margin analyses can be used

An Assessment of Economic Sustainability and Efficiency in Small-Scale Broiler Farms in Limpopo Province: A Review

An important factor in determining the success of a small-scale broiler farm is its economic viability and efficiency. During times of trouble for the industry, the idea receives more attention. The conceptual considerations of economic sustainability and efficiency are frequently quite constrained, according to the difficulties raised in this study and by other authors. There is a lack of information about South Africa’s small-scale broiler production’s economic viability and effectiveness. Furthermore, it is clear that small-scale broiler producers have the ability to increase their economic efficiency. By reducing the mortality rate, feed conversion rate, and production duration, both their technical and financial efficiency could be improved. Profitability in the production of broilers will be considerably increased by lowering the cost of these variable inputs, particularly feed and day-old chicks. Additionally, raising the education level, capacity utilization ratio, and broiler production would all contribute to raising the farms’ efficiency levels. To ensure effective resource use and to maximize practicable profit, small-scale broiler producers who are not operating close to the profit frontier must make efforts to reduce both technical and allocation inefficiencies. Collectively, all these measures would ensure the economic sustainability of small-scale farmers in South Africa would be met. Moreover, the sustainability of small-scale broiler producers can be achieved if strategies that build local capacity and that empower them to sustain high levels of productivity are provided. In addition, the efficient use of resources will ensure that productivity is enhanced, and might increase profitability. It is therefore important to ensure that small-scale broiler producers achieve maximum profit for a given set of inputs. Approaches in assessing the farm-level profitability such as cost-benefit and gross margin analyses can be used

Small-holder Farmers Knowledge and Information on the Impact of Climate Variability & Extremes on Livestock Production in Limpopo & Mpumalanga Provinces

A study was carried out to investigate the level of awareness, knowledge and information of small-holder farmers (SHLF) on the impact of climatic change (CC) and extremes on livestock production in Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces. At least 366 smallholder farmers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to elicit responses on vulnerability. Almost all the farmers (96 %) have heard about CC only a few farmers (4 %) did not know CC. The medium for the conveyance of CC information was the main radio (94.32%). Newspapers and television were also efficient mediums in the conveyance of this information, each with the outreach of 16.76 and 32.67%, respectively. Central to the impact of CC was the fact that (90%) of the farmers confirmed that there was a change in grass availability; which contributed to major livestock fatalities of which over half of the farmers (55.19%) attested as the cause. The study found that 86.67% of SHLF who attended awareness meetings indicated that the discussions prioritized adapting to CC. However, SHLF (80.77%) did not have an early warning system. This was coupled with a lack of contingency plans by (84.36%) the farmers to deal with the impact of the said drought on their farms. SHLF (19%) who had facilitated contingency plans indicated that improved aspects of the plan should incorporate the support of their provision feeds, drilling of boreholes, and erection of dams. Based on SHLF perceptions there is a need for strategic shifts from grazing to small scale feed-lots