AN ASSESSMENT OF BIO-SECURITY STATUS OF POULTRY FARMS IN MUBI ZONE OF ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

*¹Augustine C., ²Mojaba D.I. and ³Igwebuike J.U.

*Department of Animal Production, Adamawa State University, Mubi, Nigeria

Department of Animal Science, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

A survey was conducted to assess the bio-security status of poultry farms in Mubi zone of Adamawa state Nigeria. One hundred poultry farms were purposely sampled and visited. Questionnaires, bio-security assessment forms and farm inspection were used as instruments for data collection. Simple descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages were used to summarize and present results. The results revealed that 92% of the respondents keep poultry as source of income and 86% practice the intensive management systems. The predominant source of labour (68%) was family labour. Majority of the farmers (89%) depend on commercial feeds. The poultry industry in Mubi zone is dominated by chicken (84%). Greater proportions of the farmers operate backyard or small scale medium farms. The result of the bio-security status of farms in Mubi showed that bio-security in facilities, hygiene, vaccination, water quality control check and education standards were not well observed by farmers in Mubi zone. The results of symptoms of poultry disease observed by farmers in Mubi zone revealed that faeces stained with blood accounted the highest (39% ) followed by whitish diarrhoea (16%) and yellowish diarrhoea (8%). It is therefore recommended that bio-security be given top most priority in the poultry sub sector. Government should support the implementation of bio-security at all levels of the livestock subsector. Government should support farmers financially in order to boast poultry production in Mubi.

Keywords: Assessment, Bio-Security, Status, Poultry farms, Mubi zone.