Constraints to indigenous chicken production in Ntenjeru subcounty, Mukono District.

Abstract

A Cross section survey was conducted in Ntenjeru sub county, Mukono district in April 2015 with the objective of establishing the constraints faced by fanners rearing indigenous chicken. The study collected quantitative data using a structure. questionnaire. By random sampling a sample size of 100 respondents was got using Powell (1998) formulae. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16 and results were presented as frequency-tables, pie charts and bat graphs. The study found out that (93%) of the farmers managed their birds extensively (free range) due to lack, of inputs and finances needed in other management systems. economic constraints were encountered in the fields of housing where (97%) used local materials for housing (66%) claimed lack of funds and (26%) expensive building materials (97%) could not afford commercial feeds to supplement their chicken due to lack of funds for commercial feeds (63%,) only 3% afforded to use plastic waterers while (97%) cited lack of funds for waterers, complained that drinkers were expensive and since they had few birds plastic waterers were uneconomical (70%) of the farmers could not afford extension services due to lack of fll1'lds,(18%) consulted only when a problem arose because extension services were expensive for a regular use (66%) lacked funds to vaccinate their birds and (18%) complained about inaccessible ex tensionists to vaccinate the birds. In case of disease outbreak, (87%) of the farmers opted for ethno veterinary medicines and pointed out lack of money for conventional drugs and unaffordable extension services as hindrances to use, conventional drugs. only (4%) could afford to raise enough capital to invest in the enterprise while (96%) couldn't due to meager earnings (70%) and lack of access to financial institutions (2O%) Social constraints of important concerns to farmers were crop damages, endemic diseases and predation at (70%) peer pressure and social beliefs at (15%)social conflicts and social crimes at (12%) and coinciding with other more important programmes at (3%).The study concluded that the major economical constraint raced by farmers such as lack of finances, lack of technical knowledge and lack of enough access to extension services together with the cardinal social constraints such as predation, endemic diseases, crop damages, peer pressure and social conflicts were responsible for failing farmers to take up indigenous chicken seriously as an enterprise hence the poor management of indigenous chicken in the sub county. It was therefore recommended that the district local government of Mukono through its production department package extension messages that shall help to refocus farmers for indigenous chicken as a potential enterprise to pull farmers from poverty