Factors limiting production efficiency and profitability from smallholder poultry production

The efficiency and profitability of family enterprises using indigenous poultry are limited by disease, production constraints, and external factors. The limitations caused by viral diseases, notably Newcastle disease, avian influenza, Gumboro disease and fowl pox, can be largely alleviated through the use of vaccination programmes adapted to the local prevalence of diseases. Once disease is controlled, feed becomes a significant limiting factor which judicious feeding of chicks during the first four weeks of life can overcome. Loss from predators can be addressed by suitable housing for young chicks. The number of eggs that can be incubated in each batch and the number of batches that can be raised by a hen each year can be countered through the provision of a suitable hatching trays, and interventions to stimulate a rapid return to lay by hens.