Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infects most avian species. The serious consequence is the disease (frequently fatal) that occurs when virulent strains of the virus infect domestic chickens. The epidemiology of Newcastle disease (ND) in commercial chickens is fairly well understood. Infected chickens are the usual source of virus, which can be transported mechanically by fomites or by people. Pre...

VILLAGE POULTRY PRODUCTION IN THE SUDAN. A survey form provided by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division was used to collect data on village poultry production in the Sudan. The production system in the households was based on scavenging indigenous domestic chickens, at times accompanied by pigeons, guinea fowls, ducks or turkeys. The average flock size was 18.8 birds and included 44.3% hens, 10% cocks, ...

Low-fibre sunflower residue (SFR) included in the diet is a viable option for improving production in smallholder-owned poultry. Four hundred day-old broiler chicks (200 hybrid + 200 village chicks) were given broiler starter (1-28 days) and a low-fibre sunflower residue diet (29-84 days). On day 29 the chicks were randomly allocated to four treatments (2 types of chicks, 2 systems of housing):...

Unravelling the genetic history of any livestock species is central to understanding the origin, development and expansion of agricultural societies and economies. Domestic village chickens are widespread in Africa. Their close association with, and reliance on, humans for long-range dispersal makes the species an important biological marker in tracking cultural and trading contacts between hum...

Extensively raised village chickens are considered a valuable source of biodiversity, with genetic variability developed over thousands of years that ought to be characterized and utilized. Surveys that can reveal a population's genetic structure and provide an insight into its demographic history will give valuable information that can be used to manage and conserve important indigenous animal...

Development of village chicken production can be a sustainable way of helping to meet the welfare needs of rural populations and raise their living standards. There is a dearth of information on research conducted to characterize, understand and develop the village chicken production systems in Zimbabwe. This review focuses on constraints, opportunities and research needs for the improvement of...

Aim: Biosecurity measures are rarely implemented in traditional farming systems especially in the villages. Given the importance of the village chickens as a source of income for rural families and its public health concern due to the frequent contact that exist between these birds and humans a study was conducted to assess the presence of antibodies to the H5 avian influenza virus subtype in v...

In this study, we compare the level and distribution of genetic variation between South African conserved and village chicken populations using microsatellite markers. In addition, diversity in South African chickens was compared to that of a reference data set consisting of other African and purebred commercial lines. Three chicken populations Venda, Ovambo and Eastern Cape and four conserved ...

Chickens have been in Papua New Guinea since the time of the Austronesian settlements some 2000-3000 years ago. In historical times, new types of poultry were introduced. Chicken keeping slowly spread but only recently into the highlands. From the late 1960s through the 1980s, serious attempts were made to improve village poultry production through the distribution of dualpurpose chickens and M...

In the present study, we have explored the genetic relationships between red junglefowls and domestic chickens in Southeast Asia by using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We genotyped 475 individuals from 17 populations of red junglefowls (4 subspecies, n=39), native chickens (10 populations, n=346) and commercial breeds (3 breeds, n=90) using PCR-RFLP for the 98 autosomal SNP mark...