Local poultry production in rural Zambia and the effect of light on poultry performance

Sammanfattning: Zambia is a country in Southern Africa where poverty is widespread and the traditional keeping of local poultry therefore plays a crucial role in improving nutrition. Meat and eggs from poultry are important sources of protein but also of income. Improving the poultry production is thereby a method to fight poverty. For poultry, the access to light is an important factor for both growth and egg production. In this paper, the focus is on the traditional village chickens used for both egg and meat production, how they are kept, their health and welfare and if the use of a solar lamp will influence their behaviour, growth and egg production. Three studies were conducted in Chibombo and Choma Districts in Zambia were 17 farmers were interviewed regarding the village chicken management of which six farmers participated in a solar lamp experiment. The village chickens were divided into one control group and one experimental on each farm. The latter received a solar lamp that was on for two hours every evening after dusk. Both groups had access to feed during the time the solar lamp was on. After one month, the poultry were weighed. In the second experiment, twenty village chickens were divided into two groups, where the experimental group was given the anthelmintic piperazine. All of the village chickens were weighed before and after the experiment that lasted for one month. In a third experiment, the effect of the solar lamp on village chicken’s behaviour was studied. Also, the poultry welfare was studied. The results showed that village chickens are kept mainly free-ranging and scavenging during the days. They are usually given small amounts of feed, mainly maize. The production is low and the health management is poor. The village chickens in the study of behaviour did not show any aversion towards the solar lamps and the effect from the extra light hours on the food intake was insignificant. There was no apparent difference in weight gain between the groups in the deworming experiment. The solar lamp experiments did not give any reliable results due to different factors that are discussed in the thesis.