Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the characteristics, types and spread of poultry metabolic and behavioural diseases in Oyo State using a structured questionnaire spread across the 33 Local Government Areas of the state. One hundred commercial farms were randomly selected across the state but only seventy-eight responded. Data were collected on age of farm, number of stocks, types of poultry kept and types of poultry disease experienced and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Coordinates of the farms were captured with the aid of Global Positioning System (GPS) and imported into Geographical Information System (GIS) to produce disease risk maps of the study area. Results revealed that 58.98% of the sampled poultry farms in Oyo State were established between 5 and 10 years ago and were mostly small scale commercial farms (48.72%) with less than five thousand (<5,000) birds. Only 3.84% of the farms possessed more than 120,000 birds, while 83.34% reared chicken, and 53.85% raised layers. The result also revealed that 89.74% of the farms experienced disease occurrence. Heat stress (23.08%) and vent pecking (38.46%) were the major metabolic and behavioural diseases, respectively experienced in Oyo State. The study concluded that majority of the commercial farms were small scale enterprises and layers constituted the highest proportion of chickens reared. Also, Oyo State had moderate to high potential for metabolic and behavioural diseases spread in 23 Local Government Areas while vent pecking and heat stress were the major diseases affecting most of the poultry commercial farms. Commercial poultry farms in Oyo State are enjoined to improve on their management techniques such as appropriate stocking density, good housing design and orientation, good feed and water management, effective structural and operation bio-security, proper hygiene and sanitation for better and efficient production targets.

Keywords: Behavioural disease, Commercial poultry, GIS, Metabolic disease, Oyo State