Journal of Animal Breeding and Genomics (J Anim Breed Genom)
John Kariuki Macharia*, Elijah Oketch Ogolah, Jean Pierre Munyaneza
Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of South Korea
Correspondence to John Kariuki Macharia, E-mail: machariajohn574@gmail.com
Volume 6, Number 4, Pages 183-193, December 2022.
Journal of Animal Breeding and Genomics 2022, 6(4), 183-193. https://doi.org/10.12972/jabng.20220020
Received on December 02, 2022, Revised on December 23, 2022, Accepted on December 26, 2021, Published on December 31, 2022.
Copyright © 2022 Korean Society of Animal Breeding and Genetics.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).
As a larger part of the livestock sector, the poultry farming sub-sector plays a vital role in the Kenyan economy by being a source of food, income, raw materials, and employment to many. Indigenous poultry farming is widely practised in rural households with a significant role in their financial stability and livelihoods. Indigenous chicken products are preferred by consumers due to their unique taste, high nutritional value, and organic production. The increased demand could offer an opportunity for the expansion of indigenous chicken farming in Kenya. Indigenous chickens are commonly reared extensively due to their scavenging abilities and resistance to diseases when compared to exotic breeds. Extensive systems of chicken farming face several challenges that limit productivity including diseases, poor husbandry practises, high cost of feeds, and unreliable marketing channels. Thus, the subsistence rearing of indigenous chickens with poor management practices can be characterized by lower production levels and profit margins. Nevertheless, all is not lost as there are promising opportunities to improve the productivity of indigenous chickens. This manuscript aims to describe the production systems and highlight constraints and opportunities for the expansion of indigenous chicken farming in Kenya.
constraints, indigenous chicken, Kenya, opportunities, production systems
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
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