tailieunhanh - Keeping Village Poultry A technical manual on small-scale poultry production

The level of poultry production for each region is given in the first column of table 4. It is the 1998 estimate of poultry meat production (obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization FAOSTAT database). The level of poultry production in the two composite regions is determined by first identifying which countries are net poultry exporters in FAO trade data. Then, the level of poultry production in the ROWE region is the sum of production in these exporting countries. Poultry production for the ROWM region is obtained by subtracting the quantity of poultry meat produced. | Keeping Village Poultry A technical manual on small-scale poultry production Network for Smallholder Poultry Development Table of Contents Table of contents Page Introduction 3 1. Management 5 2. Housing 23 3. Feeding 33 4. Diseases and Health Management 50 5. Profitability and marketing of products 66 6. Animal selection and breeds 78 Annexes A. Additional material 85 B. International Poultry Networks 88 Introduction Need for a manual on small-scale village poultry There is a growing attention and interest in using poultry as a tool in poverty alleviation in villages throughout the world. However the existing literature either gives advice on industrial or semi-industrial production systems using exotic imported breeds under highly controlled conditions or very simple field guides giving little useful advice on how to rear poultry at village level. The present manual tries to gather existing knowledge on how to improve village poultry production systems with relatively few inputs. The manual will deal with improved free-range systems consisting of small flocks of 5- 50 local or cross-bred chickens. Smallscale confined poultry rearing sometimes also called small-scale industrial poultry production will not be dealt with in the present manual. The main reason behind this choice is the fact that many excellent practical handbooks and guidelines dealing with such systems already exists. Please consult Annex A for titles on manuals and books relating to small-scale industrial poultry production as well as references for relevant training manuals dealing with improved free-range systems. In Annex B you may find a short introduction to the three major international networks on small-scale village poultry development. The primary target group of the manual is extension workers in the government and private sector involved with smallholder poultry development at village level. A secondary target group is literate small-scale poultry farmers. It is the intention that .