ISSN 2167-0447
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 6 (10), pp. 1148-1156, October, 2016. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Characterization of layer poultry production in Rwanda
MBUZA Francis, HABIMANA Richard, SIMBANKABO Thomas, MAJYAMBERE Denis
1college of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.
1School of animal science and veterinary medicine.
2Center for livestock research and development (UR-CLRD).
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel. +250788774300
Received 30 June, 2016; Revised 18 July, 2016, Accepted 04 August, 2016 and Published 02 October, 2016
Abstract
Improved poultry production systems in Rwanda are recent, uncharacterized and not documented. This study was to establish current status, identify the challenges and recommend improvements to layer production systems in Rwanda. The study was conducted on 172 layer poultry farmers from all the four provinces and Kigali city using questionnaires. The majority of farmers kept Rhode Island Red (RIR) 76% and chicks were mainly (73%) imported from abroad. Permanent poultry premises were commonly present (63%) and majority of them (91.9%) were correctly oriented however, lacked proper ventilation and Stocking levels were generally very low as the majority of farmers 75% kept less than 1000 birds. The deep litter system using saw dust predominated (91.5%). Majority of farmers (92.5%) practiced on- farm feed mixing and birds were always fed manually, and those below four weeks were generally underfed. The duration of lighting in poultry pens was within the recommended ranges. Diarrhea was mostly reported (61%) followed by skin diseases (15%), flu (12%) and paralysis (12%) as the commonest diseases. The production parameters with regard to growth and survival traits were inferior to international standards. Lack of quality feeds (38%), credit (20%) and poor market accessibility (19%) were the main challenges reported.
Key words: Layers, egg production, efficiency, challenges, Rwanda.