Poultry: Chickens

Poultry production accounts for the major part of all meat produced in many developing countries, and is an integral component of nearly all rural, peri-urban and urban households. Poultry are of considerable significance to rural as well as national economies and an important source of animal protein. Poultry constitute by far the largest group of livestock and are estimated to number about 14,000 million, consisting mainly of chickens, ducks and turkeys. In total, poultry products (egg and meat) constitute about 30% of all animal protein consumed worldwide. Within the last 10 years, this proportion has increased from 20% to 30% of all animal protein and is predicted to increase to 40% before the year 2015. Throughout the developing world, many living in rural areas keep small flocks of scavenging poultry. These birds are usually chickens and have an important role to play in poverty alleviation and food security. The flocks are small but important - providing meat and eggs for family consumption, for sale to provide additional income, or for social obligations. Rural poultry also provide manure and are active in pest control. In many countries the birds are owned and managed by women and children.

Classification and Origins Characteristics of Chickens Breeds or Types of Chicken Poultry Production Systems Backyard or "Village" Poultry References and Further Reading Research Projects   See also: Poultry Housing Digestive Systems and Digestion of Feeds Dietary Requirements Intensive Poultry Markets: Broilers Assessment of Condition in Chickens Diseases in Poultry

Characteristics of Chickens

The present day chickens are larger and more productive than the ancestral Red Jungle Fowl, but show similar behaviour and have similar requirements. Some knowledge of what these characteristics are assists in caring for chickens under a range of different circumstances, both confined and free-ranging.

	Non-oiled feathers	Since chickens originated in a warm environment with a good tree cover they do not have a well developed preening gland. As a result their feathers are not well oiled and do not provide good protection against the rain. Provision of a shelter for shade and protection is essential.
	Predators	Chickens are potential prey for a wide range of predators, and are to some extent adapted for this in that they have good near all-round vision. However, it is clear that chickens need to be protected against predators. This means that they need security of cover - including from above.
	Perching	The chicken's feet are adapted for perching above ground and any housing for chickens should be equipped with perches large enough for the birds.
	Scratching	The feet with long claws, coupled with powerful leg muscles, are adapted for scratching. Given free-range they will make significant use of this scratching behaviour to search for food items. In a household vegetable/horticulture patch this feeding can be put to particularly good use in helping to control weeds and pests after crops have been harvested.
	Pecking	The chicken pecks with its beak in order to get food. It must have food of the appropriate size and texture to suit this pecking behaviour. In particular, larger grains (e.g. maize) must be crushed or chopped before feeding. The pecking behaviour enables chickens to carefully select the tips of growing plants, e.g. grasses and leaves of herbaceous plants, and these sources of food are important to them. If birds are kept in a run, they should be provided with fresh green vegetation (old, wilted or dry growth is not suitable) presented in such a way that they are able to peck at it.
	Pecking Order	Domestic chickens are social animals, and a group will establish an order of dominance. Normally a cock will be dominant, but in the absence of a cock on older hen will usually be regarded as dominant. A potential negative aspect to this is that some birds may peck excessively at others - particularly whilst feeding. As competition for food increases, so does the incidence of aggressive pecking. Where this becomes a problem, steps should be taken to provide enough feeders spaced at adequate distances., or to scatter grain over a large enough area to enable the less dominant members of a flock to obtain sufficient feed.
	Dust bathing	Chickens will scratch in areas of fine, dry soil and then "bathe" in it. This helps to remove external parasites on the feathers and skin. Free ranging birds will normally find suitable spots. Confined birds must be provided with a area with fine soil that is kept dry (a shelter is important for this and many other reasons). Dry wood ash from a fire provides an excellent dust bathing medium when mixed with some fine soil (but make sure it is cold) .

The different breeds or types of chicken can be considered under these following headings.

		Meat producers, Heavy breeds	The larger and heavier breeds are more appropriate for meat production. Being heavy they are also poor fliers and easier to confine. These are birds that have been bred specifically to produce a good quality carcass in terms of the amount of meat. High yielding meat types are normally hybrids that have been selectively bred to increase the daily weight gain (requiring high-input production systems, and high levels of feed conversion).
		Egg producers, Light breeds	Light breeds are smaller and have a greater tendency to flight, but produce greater numbers of eggs than the heavy breeds. If the aim is to produce the maximum number of eggs possible, the choice of breed will be one of the modern hybrid breeds that have been specifically selected for egg production. Again these require high-input production systems. The colour of the eggs (generally brown or white) may also be of importance and this depends on individual market preferences.
		Dual purpose or general purpose	Dual purpose birds are those that have characteristics of both the heavy and lighter breeds. They are capable of a reasonable "table weight" and also produce a good number of eggs.
		Types classed by geographical area of origin	Different breeds are often classed according to the place of origin of the breed or group of breeds, e.g. Asiatic, American, or Mediterranean.
		Marketing terms: Broilers	Technically these are birds that are suitable for broiling, or cooking by boiling or frying. The carcass weight would normally be between 1 and 2 kg. The term is now more loosely used to include birds suitable for roasting (otherwise technically called "roasters").

There are two production systems: 1). The intensive commercial system, and 2). The traditional extensive, rural scavenging or backyard system. There are also examples of modified systems in-between the two. Improved traditional systems are often called semi-scavenging production systems (see Permin and Hansen, 1998).

Traditional poultry production

A majority of chickens in developing countries are kept in traditional, rural scavenging systems. These are characterized by few inputs in terms of housing, feeding and disease control. The output in terms of number of eggs is low, e.g., about 50 eggs per hen/year and the weight gain for meat birds, or broilers, is low with perhaps more than 6 months required to produce a broiler that is ready to slaughter.

Traditional poultry production is often described as a low input/low output system, where poultry flocks of 10-20 animals are left scavenging around the house during daytime. Here they obtain what feed they can get from the environment such as insects and seeds. In addition they may be given leftovers from the kitchen and other types of offal.

Intensive systems

Intensive commercial systems are costly, labour intensive and sophisticated in terms of housing, feeding and disease prophylaxis: Nevertheless, the output is high with regard to number of eggs per hen and weight gain for broilers, e.g., 280 - 320 eggs per hen/year and only 35 - 40 days needed to get broilers to their slaughter weight.

In contrast to the traditional poultry production, modern poultry industry is concentrated on few big farms with flock sizes in the range of 5000-250,000 (or more) animals. Total confinement, improvement of cleaning and disinfection procedures, production according to an "all in - all out" principle, and extensive the prophylactic use of vaccines and drugs has reduced the significance of diseases in modern industrial poultry production.

Poultry production in many developing countries is based mainly on scavenging or "backyard" systems. For example, it has been estimated that 80% of the poultry population in Africa is found in traditional production systems, sometimes called low input/output systems. Little attention is given to this means of production by authorities and many development programmes even though between 30% to 100% of the animal protein consumed is from this source. This low input/output practice has been a traditional component of small farms all over the developing world for centuries and is likely to continue as such in the future.

The flocks are normally small in size but are an important asset providing their owners with meat and eggs that can be consumed by the family. They are also bartered or sold to provide additional income, and may also be used to fulfil social obligations. Rural poultry provide manure, whilst they are active in pest control. In many countries the birds are owned and managed by women and children.

Generally, poultry scavenge in the vicinity of the house during the daytime where they may be given sorghum, broken grains, maize bran or other waste products (see also Kitchen Waste, and by-products) as additional or supplementary feed. In many circumstances, they are not given anything at all, and might have to walk long distances to find feed and water. This can be as much as four km during a day. Additional feed may sometimes be given at night where the animals are kept inside houses or in simple shelters. The level of productivity is very low compared to high-input systems; for example, a scavenging hen may lay as few as 30 eggs per year, while an industrialized battery hen may lay about 280 eggs in a year.

However, it must also be acknowledged that the taste (as well as the appearance) of a village or backyard hen's eggs, or freely ranging hen's eggs, is in many cases considerably better than those from an average hen kept under industrial battery systems. Similarly, the meat from a freely ranging bird has more taste and less fat than intensively reared birds. It should also be realized that the effective laying period of a laying hen in high-input industrial systems is short - most battery hens spend around one year in laying cages before going for slaughter. In contrast, a backyard or village hen can continue to produce eggs over many years, with little in the way of external inputs.

Low outputs from scavenging poultry are caused by diseases, lack of supplementary feed and sub-optimal management, and also by the inherent genetic characteristics of individual breeds (see Permin and Hansen, 1998). A majority of animals kept in many rural areas in developing countries are local breeds which are resistant to many diseases and pests. In contrast, the "improved" breeds that show higher production are (a) far more susceptible to local diseases and pests, and (b) require a high level of inputs (both in terms of feeds and health care) as well as expertise on the part of the livestock keeper. Without maintaining these high levels of inputs, improved breeds may have significantly greater mortality and overall lower levels of productivity than the local breeds.

Riise, J.C., Permin, A., McAinsh, C.V. and Frederiksen, L. (2004). Keeping Village Poultry - A technical manual on small-scale poultry production. Network for Smallholder Poultry Development, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Network for Smallholder Poultry Development. Dyrlægevej 2, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. Email: poultry@kvl.dk. http://www.poultry.kvl.dk/.