The productivity and resilience of the indigenous chickens in the tropical environments: improvement and future perspectives

Abstract

The poultry population in Africa is mostly composed of local or indigenous chickens appreciated for the unique taste and texture of their meat. However, with the ever-increasing population growth, the free-range or backyard poultry farming system is no longer adapted to supply people with protein requirements. Crossbreeding local hens with an improved rooster weakens the thermotolerance and disease resistance of the offspring in African areas. In this context, the available breeds need to be preserved. The improvement of their productivity should be actualized through the implementation of a sustainable production programme that is simple and less expensive for the farmer, taking into account: feeding, habitat and chicken care. Scientific research should invest more time on the identification and characterization of all available breeds or chicken ecotypes allowing us to know production performances and their nutritional needs. Feeding with locally available resources, vaccination and use of indigenous medicine requiring training of farmers are essential perspectives. This paper focused on the productivity and resilience of indigenous chicken ecotypes in various African tropical environments and some essential factors to improve the birds. For this, a critical analysis was made based on the available data on the birds from research databases.

Keywords

• Indigenous breeds
• ecotype
• management
• free-range
• backyard system