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But of course – this is not the end. Papers will continue to be published, and we are moving on to new and exciting work to build on the success of CH4D.

WELL DONE ALL – MANY CONGRATULATIONS!

The study, focused on Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, included 71 poultry keepers (41 backyard and 30 semi-intensive chicken producers). Although women played an important role in backyard production systems, semi-intensive farms were more likely to be controlled by men. the participants identified 9 constraints to production: 7 of 8 groups of backyard producers and 15/31 semi-intensive producers ranked diseases as the most important constraint to chicken production. In contrast to previous reports, farmers in both groups had considerable knowledge of diseases and of factors affecting disease risk. Both groups, but particularly semi-intensive producers, highlighted access to feed as a constraint. Many of the challenges faced by both groups were associated with difficulty accessing agricultural and veterinary inputs and expertise.

Whilst many of the constraints identified by farmers could be viewed as simply technical issues to be overcome, we believe it is important to recognise the social factors underpinning what are, in reality, relatively modest technical challenges. The low involvement of women in semi-intensive production needs to be recognised by poultry development schemes. Provision needs to be made to allow access to inputs for a wide range of business models, particularly for those, such as women, who have limited access to the capital to allow them to make the jump from backyard to semi-intensive producer, and require support to slowly build up a flock into a profitable venture.

Sambo, E., J. Bettridge, T. Dessie, A. Amare, T. Habte, P. Wigley, R.M. Christley (2015) Participatory evaluation of chicken health and production constraints in Ethiopia, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 118:1117-127 [link]

Bettridge, J.M., Lynch, S.E., Brena, C., Melese, K., Dessie, T., Gutu, Z., Desta, T.T., Rushton, S., Hanotte, O., Kaiser, P., Wigley, P., and Christley, R.M. (2014) Infection interactions in Ethiopian village chickens. Preventive Veterinary Medicine [link]

The findings highlight a number of important infections that can impact village chicken production and finds that interactions between these (i.e. co-infection) may be an important component of disease.

Zelalem Gutu and the survey group

A general socioeconomic and CVM survey was conducted in 2011 in two rural areas of Ethiopia, Horro and Jarso. Data gathered during this survey time is now being analysed. Primary analysis of CVM data was completed and first draft of the work was shared to supervisors. A descriptive report of the general socioeconomic data has also been prepared. Further analysis of this data will be conducted over the coming months.

A choice experiment survey in village poultry sector was conducted earlier this year in Horro. This survey aims to gain important information about farmer preference for characteristics of vaccination programmes

and their preferred hen characteristics. The survey was administered to 450 households that were sampled from the two market-sheds in Horro that have been working with the project. The dataset has been developed and is now being analysed.

After several months of processing and cleaning, a completed database is now in use for all 1280 birds sampled by the study, complete with their health, management, disease screening and follow-up data. Serological results from the ELISA tests have been explored in order to check their quality and determine the best methods to deal with the data generated. This is now ready to be linked with the genetic data for genome-wide association studies and further analyses to be carried out.

The Fluff Louse

The Feather Shaft Louse

The Scaly leg Mite

The poster  was presented by Judy Bettridge at the Society of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine conference, which was held in Madrid Spain, 20-22 March 2013.

The results of this study contribute to a greater understanding of ectoparasite biology in Ethiopian village poultry and provide the basis for further research in this field. The data collected in the study will be used to develop an identification key of ectoparasites of Ethiopian scavenging poultry in the study regions. This laboratory guide, presented as a series of posters for display, will draw on key diagnostic features collated from a number of identification texts on this subject and will be a valuable and tailored resource for staff at the EIAR diagnostic poultry laboratory and elsewhere. It will also be made freely available via the CH4D project website. The ectoparasite dataset will contribute to the wider investigation of infectious disease epidemiology in Ethiopian village chicken populations within the CH4D project. The ectoparasite study forms the subject of an MSc dissertation submitted by Marisol Collins, a student of the University of Edinburgh entitled ‘Ectoparasites of indigenous village poultry in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional survey of geographically distinct populations’.