ANALYSIS OF BROILER POULTRY PRODUCTION IN EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study focused on the analysis of broiler poultry production in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. A total of four research questions and two null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. Owing to the relative large population, poposive sampling technique was used to select 455 respondents from the 5271 broiler poultry farmers in the state. A well structured questionnaire was used to solicit information from the respondents. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected. The findings of the study revealed that broiler poultry production was dominated by farmers within the middle age group and out of this, male farmers out-numbered the female farmers. On the educational level of the respondents, those with SSCE/GCE dominated the broiler poultry industry in the study area. The farmers who reared large number of chickens were fewer than those who reared smaller number of broilers. The major benefits derived from broiler production includes: income generation, source of employment and source of meat. The largest number of respondent adopted the intensive method of rearing. The following were some of the major challenges encountered by the farmers: high cost of day-old chicks and feed, poor quality feed, high mortality rate, high cost of drugs and vaccines, etc. Based on the findings, the government, research institutes, NGOs and indeed the general public are enjoined to address the challenges encountered by the farmers so as to boost poultry production in the state and  encourage more people to go into the poultry industry.