Survivability and causes of loss of broody-hen chicks on smallholder households in Bangladesh

We determined the flock sizes and rates of loss caused by different factors in broody-hen chicks (BHC) up to 60 days of age on 600 randomly selected smallholdings in Bangladesh. The smallholders were beneficiaries of a village poultry production chain called ‘Smallholder Livestock Development Project-2’ (SLDP-2) which was undertaken with the financial assistance of the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). For estimating survival time of BHC, we observed chicks in 80 smallholdings. SLDP-2 aims at ameliorating poverty among women by poultry rearing at village level; in total, 104,000 key rearers, constituting 96% of all of the beneficiaries of the SLDP-2 area, were enrolled in 26 upazilas (a lower administrative unit of Bangladesh). A key rearer is a smallholder who rears at least five ‘Sonali’ (RIR × Fayoumi) and some indigenous (desi) chickens in a semi-scavenging system. Sonali chickens are supplied from the development project, and have higher egg production while the broodiness of the desi hens is exploited to get chicks hatched for future stocks; thus, the chicks hatched and reared to 60 days old at key rearers’ households are called BHC. In this study 32% of the smallholders had BHC each month. At the beginning of a month, the median number of chicks in a flock was 8, and the mean survival time was 50.5 days. Incidence rates of loss of BHC from disease, predation, selling and slaughtering were 0.102, 0.086, 0.009 and 0.002 per chick-month at risk, respectively. The major predators were crows, mongooses and eagles with incidence rates of loss being 0.018, 0.016 and 0.010 per chick-month at risk, respectively. Colibacillosis (both single and mixed infections) contributed to the death of 21% of dead BHC collected; Newcastle disease and salmonellosis contributed to the next highest (14 and 12%) proportional mortalities.