Teyib Abafogi Abadula, Sufian Abdo Jilo, Johar Aliye Hussein, and Sadik Zakir Abadura
School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
Corresponding author: Sufian Abdo Jilo, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia. Email: sufianabdojilo@gmail.com
Abstract:
Poultry production is a sector of livestock production to gain meat, egg, and other products from domesticated bird species, including chickens, ostriches, turkeys, ducks, and guinea fowls. Poultry production is different from country to country due to different economic activities, environmental situations, and cultural aspects of society. With this in mind, the current study aimed to review the literature to explore the current status of poultry production, highlight the constraints in poultry production, and predict the future of poultry production. In many societies, poultry plays an important sociocultural role. Diseases, market problems, feed resources, lack of proper housing, predators, as well as social and cultural constraints are all obstacles to the future growth of the poultry industry. Despite, the presence of a large chicken population in Ethiopia, contribution to the national economy or benefit exploited is very limited due to diseases, predators, and veterinary services. The main diseases affecting the chickens in Ethiopia include viral disease (Newcastle disease), gastrointestinal parasites, ectoparasites, aspergillosis, and different bacterial infections due to lack of biosecurity. In addition, chicken predators affecting poultry production in Ethiopia are wild mammals locally called ama, cats, and birds (vultures). However, the poultry production system has a bright future since different local and international humanitarian organizations have recognized that addressing this sector will benefit the poorest and most disadvantaged people in developing nations. With the need to increase animal protein sources in the world, there is general agreement that these areas are going to witness further expansion in the current decades. Therefore, it is recommended to increase productivity through improvements in health, management, and control of predators.
1.Introduction:
Poultry is those avian species, including chickens, turkeys, ducks, pigeons, and geese, which are kept for economic significance throughout the world1. Poultry production has important economic, cultural, and social benefits as well as a vital role in family nutrition in Ethiopia2. Poultry is the leading livestock species worldwide supplying more than 30% of the entire animal protein requirements3. Poultry production, as an essential sector of agricultural production, has faced an increased demand for poultry, meat, and eggs in fast-growing urban cities, and consequently, an increasing number of economic poultry farms around urban and peri-urban areas4. Ethiopia possesses about 60% of the entire chicken population of the East Africa subcontinent5. The poultry population was estimated to be 42 million based on the census, excluding pastoral and agro-pastoral areas comprising 0.55%, 2.84%, and 96.61% of the entire poultry as hybrid and exotic indigenous, respectively6. Ethiopia is one of the few countries with a significantly large population of chickens, which is expected to be about 56.5 million chickens, out of which 99% are local chickens6.
