Household characteristics influencing management of indigenous chicken: A case study of Machakos and Busia Counties in Kenya

Abstract

The study was conducted in 225 indigenous chicken keeping households between August 2020 and July 2021 in Machakos and Busia Counties. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-economic factors, flock characteristics and management practices from targeted households. Overall, majority of respondents were male (82%) with formal education (87%). Agriculture was the main source of income for most households (71%). One third of the households accessed extension services (26%), market information (31%) and credit (33%). The extensive system of production was predominant (66%) with an average chicken flock size of 28 birds characterized by low chick survival rate (33%). There was selective adoption of management interventions, with 76% of households adopting feed supplementation and half (55%) adopted improved chicken housing. Lesser proportion of households practiced improved chick rearing (32%) and vaccinated their chicken (30%). Access to credit and literacy increased adoption of the management interventions (p<0.05). Adoption of management interventions such as improved chick rearing and housing increased chick survival and average chicken flock size significantly (p>0.05). The findings point to necessary targeted efforts such as improving farmer access to credit and provision of specifically packaged extension messages to meet needs of indigenous chicken farmers.