Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Zamxaka, Chuma Wande"

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    Socio-economic contribution and health challenges of indigenous chickens in smallholder systems
    (University of Fort Hare, 2016) Zamxaka, Chuma Wande
    Indigenous chickens are kept for various socio-economic purposes by the majority of households in the developing countries. However, their contribution to the livelihoods of the households has been observed by a number of researchers to be bolow their potential. Therefore, main objective of this study was to determine the contribution of the indigenous chickens towards the livelihoods of the rural people and to establish the health challenges of these chickens. The study was conducted in two phases and in two villages, a coastal one (Gcina) and inland site (Ngcingcinikhwe). Phase one was through the use of a structured questionnaire, while phase two included the seasonal collection of specimens and lab analyses to determine disease and parasite prevalence patterns. The location and seasonal effects on disease and parasite prevalence were analyzed. In the first phase of the study, the socio-economic statuses of the two communities were measured by determination of household income levels, main source of income and food security status. The main source of income in 80 percent of households was government social welfare grants and the average food security scores, which are indicative of the application of food shortage coping strategies, were 22.8 and 27.3 in Gcina and Ngcingcinikhwe, respectively. In addition, the contribution of indigenous chickens to the livelihoods of selected locations was measured by investigation of selling and consumption frequencies of indigenous chickens and their eggs. It was observed that in Gcina and Ngcingcinikhwe, 55 percent and 48 percent of households sold chickens, respectively, while 11 percent and 15 percent of households sold eggs in Gcina and Ngcingcinikhwe, respectively. Furthermore, 90 percent and 78.7 percent of households in Gcina and Ngcingcinikhwe, respectively, consumed indigenous chicken meat once a month while 77.8 percent and 72.4 percent of households in Gcina and Ngcingcinikhwe, respectively, consumed eggs once a month. In addition, average flock sizes observed in Gcina and Ngcingcinikhwe were 8.3 and 10.4 chickens, respectively, and chickens were allowed to scavenge for their feed with maize offered as the only supplement. An average of 11.6 and 11.7 eggs were set for hatching in Gcina and Ngcingcinikhwe, respectively, and the average hatching rate was 78.4 percent in Gcina while it was 71.8 percent in Ngcingcinikhwe. However, the average chick survival rate to growing phase was 55 percent in Gcina and 59.5 percent in Ngcingcinikhwe. This low chick survival rate was attributed to disease and parasite infestation. Furthermore, the respondents mentioned respiratory and nervous symptoms as the most commonly observed disease symptoms while worm infestation was least mentioned as a health challenge. Furthermore, the respondent alluded to the fact that symptoms of ill-health were mostly observed in summer and autumn. However, scientific determination of disease and parasite prevalence mostly contradicted the assertions of the respondents with regards to disease and parasite prevalence patterns as chickens had the lowest Newcastle disease (NCD) antibody levels in spring. Therefore, this was the season when they were most likely to exhibit NCD symptoms. Further observation was that the proximity to the coast did not have an effect on the level of NCD antibodies observed in chickens. Furthermore, de-wormed chickens had higher NCD antibody levels for a longer period compared to the those that were vaccinated only. It was, therefore, concluded that helminthes had a negative effect on the NCD antibody response to vaccination. To this end, an investigation of the prevalence of the helminthes revealed that there were three helminthes species (Railetina spp., Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum) were dominant during all seasons. However, the highest helminthes prevalence was observed in the inland location (Ngcingcinikhwe) in autumn. Futhermore, Salmonella positive feacal samples were reported in winter (20 percent) and summer (10 percent) in Gcina, whereas in Ngcingcinikhwe they were only reported in Spring (20 percent). In addition, the Salmonella serovars that were isolated from the positive samples were Salmonella entiritidis and Salmonella typhimurium. Based on this observation, it was concluded that there was a very low salmonella prevalence in the indigenous chickens of the two locations. In contrast, ecto-parasites were observed to be highly prevelant in both locations with season and proximity to the coast having effects on the species prevalence. Menopon gallinae exhibited the highest prevalence (90 percent) in the costal location in autumn whereas the fleas species (Echidnophaga gallenacea) was most prevalent in the inland area during spring. Furthermore, tick species (Amblyoma hebraeum) was most prevalent (70 percent) in the coastal area in spring and autumn, whereas another tick species (Argus spp) was most prevalent (40 percent) in the inland location in winter. In conclusion indigenous chickens had an insignificant contribution to the livelihoods of the people in the two study site due to health challenges that kept the flock sizes small and the production low. The health challenges were observed to differ by location and season. To this end, for an effective indigenous chicken health management strategy to be developed, the seasonal prevalence of diseases and parasites in a particular location needs to be established.