Evaluation of Productivity, Disease Incidence and Profitability of Three Chicken Breeds (Gallus domesticus L.) Under Smallholders’ Farm Conditions in Rajshahi, Bangladesh

A sustainable poultry enterprise is largely dependent on, among others, productivity and profitability of the reared chicken breeds in relation to combating diseases in the flocks under farm conditions. Keeping these vital features of poultry management in mind, the present study assessed the productivity, disease incidence and profitability analysis of a government, 10 private and 10 backyard smallholders’ poultry farms for rearing and marketing three available chicken breeds viz., indigenous (Deshi), Fayoumi (an exotic) and Sonali (a crossbred) in 10 Upozillas or Police Stations of Rajshahi district viz. Baghmara, Boalia, Godagari, Mohonpur, Motihar, Paba, Puthia, Rajpara, Shahmokdum and Tanor. The investigation was conducted from January to December 2014 during which data were collected twice a month. In terms of producing live chickens for marketing, productivity of the farms varied significantly during both January-June and July-December rearing seasons (P<0.001). The private farms always outnumbered the government and backyard counterparts in producing chickens. The study identified nine parameters on disease incidences on the poultry production system from elevated (score 5) to absence of acceptable practices (score 1), which exhibited significant variation (P<0.05) except viral, fungal and bacterial diseases and the rate of disease occurrence per rearing period. The mean scores for disease incidences declined during July-December period of rearing. Results on the profitability analyses showed highly significant difference between the farms (P<0.001) where it appeared that strict bio-safety oriented management practices, coupled with the selection of fast growing and heavy laying breeds of chickens could ensure profitability of the poultry farms in the study area.