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OCR for page 73
Part I!
Poultry
Chickens, ducks, muscovies, geese, guinea fowl, quail, pigeons, and
turkeys epitomize the concept of microlivestock. Throughout Africa,
Asia, and Latin America they are (collectively) the most common of
all farm stock. In many perhaps most tropical countries, practically
every family, settled or nomadic, owns some kind of poultry. In the
countryside, in villages, even in cities, one or another species is seen
almost everywhere; in some places, several may be seen together.
Although raised in all levels of husbandry, these birds occur most
often in scattered household flocks that scavenge for their food and
survive with little care or management.
Their size bestows microlivestock advantages, including low capital
cost, low food requirements, and little or no labor requirements. They
are also "family sized": easily killed and dressed, with little waste or
spoilage.
These poultry species help meet the protein needs of the poorest
people in the world. Some are raised even in areas where domestic
cattle cannot survive because of afflictions such as trypanosomiasis
and foot-and-mouth disease. Some are maintained under conditions of
intensive confinement provided a source of feed is available and
can be produced in areas with insufficient land for other meat-producing
animals.
In addition, these birds grow quickly and mature rapidly. (For
instance, a chicken can, under proper conditions, reach maturity in 2-
6 months.) They adapt readily to being fenced or penned much, or all,
of the time. And, compared with the major farm livestock, their life
cycles are short and their production of offspring is high. Thus, farmers
can synchronize production to match seasonal changes in the availa-
bility of feed.
73
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74
MICROLIVESTOCK
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Poultry are the most common livestock in the Third World. Small flocks are found in
almost all rural homes, farms, villages, and towns. Picture shows woman in Burkina
Faso (West Africa) winnowing pounded cowpeas. Her chickens and guinea fowls
scavenge any broken, spilled, or spoiled seeds that would otherwise be wasted. Most
Third World poultry flocks live a wary, half-wild existence, scrounging for insects
earthworms, snails, seeds, leaves, and leftovers from the human diet. (IDRC)
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POULTRY
75
THE II1DUSTRIAL CHICKEI'
Throughout modem livestock fanning the trend is toward
more intensive methods, and poultry specialists have set the
pace. In many countries, since the 1920s, barnyard fowl have
given way to egg and broiler factories. The old-fashioned
chicken reared outside on corn stubbles for 5 or 6 months has
been replaced by the broiler, mass-produced in controlled-
env~ronment houses in 7 - 10 weeks.
As a result of this revolution in poultry raising small farmers
who once made a comfortable living from a few laying hens
have been forced out of business. These economic changes
have also forced poult~ymen to have larger and larger flocks
to survive. The largest broiler-chicken companies even control
their own breed development, feed production, house con-
struction, slaughtering and freezing many even have whole-
sale outlets.
The rapid changes in poultry farming methods can be
attributed to the application of advanced technology. The
development of the incubator to replace the mother hen sitting
her seasonal clutch of eggs was the first major step toward
intensive poultry farming.
In addition, chickens were the first livestock to receive serious
attention from geneticists. Before World War II, it was discov-
ered that crossbreeding selected pure and inbred lines could
result in dramatic increases in production. Hybrids tailor-made
for egg or meat production quickly ousted the old pure breeds
such as the Rhode Island Red, White and Brown Leghoms,
Light Sussex, and the venous crosses among them. Chicken
broilers made by crosses involving parents derived from Cor-
nish and Plymouth Rock have supplanted all others.
This situation now prevails in most industrialized countries.
The breeding of commercial stocks is in the hands of a few
corporations for each commodity (white eggs, brown eggs,
chicken broilers, turkeys) and each has national or even global
distribution of its hybrid stocks.
Although poultry contribute substantially to human nutrition in the
tropics, it is a small fraction of what it could be. The meat is widely
consumed and is in constant demand. An excellent source of protein,
it also provides minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron, as
well as the B-complex vitamins riboflavin, thiamine, and niacin.
Nutritionally as complete as red meat, it is much lower in cholesterol
and saturated fats. Poultry eggs are also important sources of nutrients.
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76
MICROLIVESTOCK
A BREAKTHROUGH IN POULTRY HEALTH
Newcastle disease is endemic in developing countries and
is a constant threat to poultry. Farmers dread this virus, first
identified half a century ago in northern England, that brings
diarrhea, paralysis, and death to most poultry. It is severe,
highly contagious, and can cause 100 percent mortality. When
it strikes an area, farmers must kill all chickens even healthy
ones to stop it from spreading.
Only Australia, Yew Zealand, IYorthern Ireland, and some
Pacific islands are unaffected. But, although the disease is not
found in Australia, certain strains of the virus are present in
Australian chickens. These strains are completely harmless,
but Australian researchers have found that they induce anti-
bodies that are effective against Newcastle disease.
In a joint project (funded by the Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research), scientists from Malaysia's
University of Agriculture and Australia's University of Queens-
land* have put this to good use. They have produced a live
culture of the harmless virus that farmers can spray onto feed
pellets to vaccinate their birds.
Field tests of the new vaccine, carried out in Southeast Asia,
have been extremely promising. Simply coating feeds with the
virus seems to be enough to immunize some chickens, which
then pass the immunity on to the others in the flock as well
as to new hatchlings. In Malaysia, which has 49 million chickens
and a population willing to pay a premium for tasty village
poultry meat, one economist estimates that the vaccine might
increase rural incomes by 25 percent.
Conventional vaccines must be stored under refrigerated
conditions, which most villages lack. But the Malaysian workers
made the Newcastle disease vaccine tolerant of heat. By
selective breeding they now have strains that resist 56°C for
at least 2 hours. Thus, even in the tropics, the vaccine remains
effective for several weeks without refrigeration. The research-
ers have also devised methods for coating the vaccine onto
pelleted feeds. Because the virus can withstand heat, they use
a machine designed for coating pharmaceutical tablets.
At this stage, the project is showing every promise of
producing a cheap means of reducing Newcastle disease losses
among chickens throughout much of the world. Already in-
quiries have come from other Asian countries and from Africa,
and it is hoped that the vaccine may eventually benefit many
countries.
* Peter Spradbrow, Latif Ibrahim, and Rod Cumming.
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POULTRY
77
They are a renewable resource, easy to prepare, and are among the
best sources of quality protein and vitamins (except vitamin C).
In spite of their numbers and potential, poultry are rarely accorded
primary consideration in economic development activities. All in all,
these small birds lack the appeal of large, four-legged livestock. Indeed,
most countries have little knowledge of the contribution household birds
actually make to the well-being and diets of their peoples. In some
countries-even those where birds are widely kept there is little or no
poultry research or extension. And where such programs do exist they
usually focus almost exclusively on the production of chickens under
"industrial" conditions near cities (see sidebar, page 751.
Most developing countries now have these intensive chicken indus-
tries, in which birds are kept in complete confinement. However, these
commercial operations provide food for people in the cash economy,
not for subsistence farmers. Moreover, grain is sometimes diverted or
imported to maintain these operations, perhaps causing food shortages,
higher prices, or depleted foreign exchange. Thus, in this section we
focus on other, neglected, aspects of poultry production.
The neglect of poultry that scavenge around the rural farmhouses
and in village yards is understandable. The birds are scattered across
the countryside where extension programs are difficult to implement.
Their presence is often so ingrained in traditional village life that they
are taken for granted and ignored by the authorities.
Yet village poultry deserve greater attention. As converters of
vegetation into animal protein, poultry can be outstanding. In fact, it
is estimated that, in terms of feed conversion, eggs rank with cow's
milk as the most economically produced animal protein, and that
poultry meat ranks above that of other domestic animals.
Most Third World poultry Hocks live a wary, half-wild existence,
scrounging for insects, earthworms, snails, seeds, leaves, and leftovers
from the human diet. From dung and refuse piles they salvage
undigested grains, as well as insects and other invertebrates. Often
the persons who care for them are women or children. Some keep the
birds around the house, penning them at night for protection from
predators and thieves.
This almost zero-cost production has, in spite of high losses, a
remarkable rate of return. Any improvements that require the purchase
of supplies cut severely into the profitability. The first step in improving
the production of free-ranging poultry is vaccination against diseases
(especially Newcastle disease, fowl pox, and Marek's disease) and a
modest, supplemental feeding during times of seasonal scarcity.
' Intensive poultry production is also important, however. For example, Mexico had
only about 50,000 broilers in l95~now it produces about 20 million, and chicken meat
is consumed by more than half the population The United States had no "chicken in
every pot" in 1932, but now produces billions of the birds each year, and virtually
everyone can eat chicken often.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
third world
