Farmers, others raise concerns over indigenous chicken breeds …As Shika Brown, FUNAAB-Alpha, Noiler, Fulani chicken breeds out of reach
Last month, monogastric (single-compartmented stomach) livestock farmers and stakeholders, at a conference in Abuja, raised concerns over the state of local chicken breeds.
They were worried that the effort of many poultry researchers and genetic resources in the country will be lost if urgent actions are not taken by the federal government.
To resolve the issue of inadequate production of indigenous breeds of poultry, they opined that there should be an innovative platform that was focused on encouraging the increased production of indigenous breeds like the Fulani breed, as well as the improved indigenous ones such as Shika Brown, Noiler and FUNAABAlpha.
“There is a huge market for these birds, so concerted effort should be made to enhance their production on a smallholder commercial basis at community level,” the group, in their submission, told the federal government.
They advised the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) to collaborate with relevant bodies to form an innovative platform that would focus on market linkage for poultry products.
Nigeria is blessed with unique breeds of birds, some of which were developed by the country’s scientists, but federal government support has not been massive in terms of upscaling their production - something the stakeholders say is not correct and needs to be addressed.
Shika Brown
The Shika Brown of is one of the major achievements of researchers at the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Zaria, in Kaduna State. It was developed after about 30 years of research work.
Shika Brown is resistant to all known diseases, including the ravaging power of avian influenza (bird Flu) that affects most of poultry farms across the country.
But this breed of chicken is facing many problems today as production has significantly dwindled due to obsolete equipment at the institute, especially incubators, and funding for its promotion and adoption by farmers.
Experts are worried that in the coming years Shika Brown may well be a historical relic. FUNAAB-Alpha
The FUNAAB-Alpha was developed by a professor of animal breeding and genetics, Olufunmilayo Adebambo, at the College of Animal Science and Livestock Production (COLANIM) of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) in Ogun State.
Professor Adebambo and her poultry-breeding team came up with the new breed and named it “FUNAAB-Alpha” after over 20 years of continuous research.
According to her, the results generated by African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG), which is an Africa-wide collaboration led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), indicates that FUNAAB-Alpha is almost much better than the Fulani and the Shika Brown.
“The cocks, at 20 weeks, have body weight of 1.3kg for Fulani breed; FUNAAB-Alpha 2.6kg; Shika Brown 1.9kg; while for the hens, the body weight is 1.0kg, 1.9kg and 1.6kg 2 respectively.
“The data also indicated that the age at first lay for Fulani chicken is 18 weeks; FUNAAB-Alpha 17 weeks; Shika Brown 17 weeks, while the average egg weight per gram was 42, 51, 54 respectively.
“The fertility percentage data also indicates 82 per cent for Fulani chicken, 68 per cent for FUNAABAlpha, 89 per cent for Shika Brown, while the hatchability per cent was distributed as 60, 55, 74 respectively.
“Mortality of the FUNAABAlpha recorded on our station was less than three per cent at the brooding phase, two per cent at the growing phase and 3.5 per cent at the laying phase,” she stated on FUNAAB’s website.
Despite the success, the breed is yet to become a household name in the industry, and like its senior, the Shika Brown, it may end up in FUNAAB’s shelf.
Noiler
One of the locally developed breeds that has so far recorded significant success is the Noiler, which was developed in Nigeria by Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery Ltd, commonly called Amo Hatchery. It is a dual-purpose breed: meat and egg.
According to Mr Akinbobola Ade, an animal scientist, “The genetic work started in 2003 and five years after, Noiler pure-line breeding programme began. Amo Sieberer Hatchery started the commercial sales of Noiler chicks in 2014, and it is being raised in nine West African countries, including Nigeria.”
The breed is a cross between the broiler and the native chicken, which could be used either for meat or egg.
Stakeholders say the success recorded is attributable to the development of the breed by a private farm which has more focus in the industry.
“It would have become history if it was developed by any government-funded institution,” a poultry farmer, Akinola Adewuye, said.
Fulani chicken
One of the best preserved and well-known local chickens, particularly in Northern Nigeria, is the Fulani chicken, because of the cultural lifestyle of the Fulani, its keepers.
However, a research on “characterisation of the Fulani-ecotype chicken for thermoregulatory feather gene” by T. R. Fayeye and A. B. Oketoyin in 2006 indicated that the adaptive feather genes are at the brink of extinction in the Fulani-ecotype chicken.
The researchers advised that, “There is the need for both researchers and field extension workers to take adequate measures to preserve these rare varieties of dominant gene carriers for future livestock development programmes.”
With insufficient feed becoming a major challenge in poultry production, it was recommended at the conference that government should work out ways to develop feed formula using alternative feed resources to improve the quality of poultry products and reduce high cost of feeds.
It was also agreed by the stakeholders that cottage processing and storage facility for poultry should be established across the country in areas with comparative advantage in the production and processing of poultry products.
Farmers also asked government to improve on existing extension services by increasing the number of extension agents and improving capacity building in effective and efficient extension services, as well as encourage private sector participation along the value chain.
It was also recommended that more animal health care service providers should be deployed to rural and livestock farming communities for better animal health care services. It was recommended that attention be given to local birds in terms of animal health care.
Farmers also want aggressive capacity building on bio-security in poultry production.