AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CHALLENGES AND PROSPECT OF REARING POULTRY IN NIGERIA

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: All domestic birds maintained by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and other goods and services for human use are collectively referred to as poultry. Ducks, turkeys, guinea hens, and geese are examples of domestic birds. Poultry products have been discovered to have the greatest protein concentration of roughly 20.5% in comparison to other protein-rich foods (derived from other animals), and they also have the quickest production cycles of any animal.

All of the actions involved in raising cattle from conception to maturity are included in the production cycle. As an example, Williamson and Payne (2021) said that it takes 25 days for broilers, 48 days for piglets, 250 days for caves, and 170 days for sheep to attain a ten-fold increase in the body weight in comparison to weight at chick.

However, raising pigs, calves, and goats needs more work than farming poultry, which allows a farmer to produce more chickens per square foot (Adoun , 2022). In this work, more emphasis will be placed specifically on domestic poultry, which are the main birds for commercial and nutritional importance in Ikpoba Okha Local Government of Edo State. These advantages may be the reason for a higher turnover in poultry production at reasonably short intervals of time. Ikpoba Okha has a long history of practicing poultry farming. The traditional motivation might range from a pastime to the consumption of poultry and eggs. In addition to the significant functions that poultry play in the traditional workshop of chores in many states, some communities give their neighbors poultry as a present to show their thanks for a good job and to show their togetherness (Oluyemi , 2020).

Without the use of contemporary scientific techniques, traditional poultry husbandry is often subsistence in approach. As a result of this system's poor care, the birds exhibit sluggish development rates, inadequate feed usage, and low output. A high death rate is also a risk for the birds due to illnesses, pests, and unfavorable weather.

Despite the widespread use of commercial poultry farming, small-scale and subsistence operations are still common, particularly in rural areas. Despite the state's abundance of commercial poultry units, which use a variety of sophisticated scientific production methods, the output of chicken is still insufficient, and the costs are too high for the average person to afford (Omoruyi, 2018).

Therefore, this essay will concentrate on the challenges and future of chicken farming in Edo state's Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area.

​​​​​​​STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM : In Nigeria, the business of poultry farming is concentrated in the hands of few individual partly because of the complex problems such as finance and climatic condition while others are problem of poultry processing and storage facility.

In Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, there had been retrogression in poultry production due to illiteracy in the maintenance of records. Hence maintenance of record helps the farmer to determine the process of retrogressing nature of the farm. Besides, it helps in making future project, planning and programming in poultry industry. Most farmers either as a result of illiteracy, training or otherwise are unable to keep records. The result is that most extension officers are unable to help them out of their problems due to lack of information.