Indigenous chicken production in the South and South East Asia.

Abstract

This study documents the indigenous chicken (IC) production systems and subsequently assesses the contribution of the IC breeds/ecotypes to the livelihoods of farmers in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. A total of 1125 households keeping chicken participated in this study between 2009 and 2011. All four countries had similar production systems for IC; most IC flocks were raised under the free range system of production, which increased their vulnerability to predation, diseases, poor feeding and inadequate husbandry management. The results show that exits due to mortality were higher than those to other causes such as livelihoods (sales and income), food and nutrition. Chicken flock sizes and production performance also varied significantly across the countries. The main reasons for keeping IC was for home consumption and as an extra income generation activity in addition to the main income activities such as crop farming and off-farm. These reasons were influenced mainly by sources of income of the households, chicken flock sizes and management practises. Understanding these farming system characteristics and their benefits to IC production is thus essential in the development of a holistic breeding and conservation program.