The paper presents a global overview of the development of the poultry sector and of the role of small-scale, family-based poultry production in developing countries. Major initiatives undertaken to develop poultry as a tool for rural development and their rationale are presented. The constraints facing the future of small-scale poultry production are discussed, with a particular focus on poultry disease given the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Asia. Geographical ‘hotspots’ are identified where interventions are urgently required and where small-scale poultry has the potential to make a substantial impact. Finally, the paper stresses the need for more long-term and wider perspectives in the policies and strategies guiding the development of the poultry sector.

The Danida-financed Network for Smallholder Poultry Development (NESPOD) has several years of experience in supporting family poultry development at village level by focusing on women and the poor. By taking into account that women traditionally are taking care of poultry in most countries and that livestock of the poor mainly consist of small flocks of poultry, NESPOD has developed a strategy which involves not only disease control or introduction of improved breeds, but a holistic approach also taking into consideration social, cultural, marketing, credit and general management aspects. Tools involved in the development of family poultry range from sensitisation of village groups and organisation of women in poultry groups to training of village vaccinators, farmer field schools for poor illiterate women, organisation of local vendors, use of private veterinarians, and not least involvement of national research, education and extension institutions and international organisations. Results from Bangladesh, Benin, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo are very promising in terms of creating non-subsidised activities with clear benefits for poor farmers as well as local entrepreneurs.

This paper presents a Technical Cooperation Project associated with the FAO Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) in Chad. The project entitled “Diversification Component of the SPFS in Chad”, which started in November 2000 and ended in October 2002, focussed on improving the contribution of small ruminants (sheep and goats) and poultry (chickens, ducks and guinea fowl) to household food security. Only data from the poultry component are presented in this paper.

An initial analysis identified access to credit, goods and services, and markets as the main constraints faced by farmers wishing to expand their poultry production. High mortalities, especially in chickens, were identified as a major cause of low productivity. Through a consultative process that involved all the stakeholders, project interventions were designed to overcome these constraints. The project introduced credit with repayment in kind, access to animal health care, staff and farmer training, and demonstrated improved animal husbandry practices.

Sixty percent of the original 55 farmer production/demonstration units remain active and profitable. Guinea fowl and duck keeping proved to be the most profitable as their meat is in high demand during festivals, and guinea fowl lay during the wet season when there is a scarcity of eggs. Efforts to control Newcastle Disease were less successful and the disease occurred in 78 percent of the units keeping chickens. Credit repayments have started in 40 percent of the units. This pilot project has shown the potential of poultry as a means of increasing household income and it has become a model for SPFS programmes elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

Village poultry play a vital role in many poor rural households. They provide scarce animal protein (in the form of meat and eggs) and can be sold/bartered to meet essential family needs such as medicine, clothes and school fees. They also provide manure and pest control as well as being used in traditional ceremonies. Village poultry are generally owned and managed by women and children and improving their production can provide the first step out of poverty for the rural poor.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has supported village poultry research in many countries since 1984. This research has had some significant outcomes including: the control of Newcastle disease (ND) using Australian derived live thermotolerant vaccines in a variety of poultry production systems in several countries; description and quantification of the scavenging feed resource base of low input/low output systems; development of gender-sensitive extension materials and methodologies suitable for use in remote rural areas in Asia and Africa; and the development and registration of a new duck plague vaccine in Vietnam.

The thermotolerant ND I-2 vaccine remains viable for periods away from the cold chain, can be administered by various routes and induces an acceptable level of protection under village conditions. The vaccine master seed, together with the ND Laboratory Manual, is made available without cost by ACIAR.

In developing countries where ND is endemic, outbreaks regularly result in high mortalities and in countries where it is not endemic, sporadic outbreaks make vaccination advisable. The implementation of an effective ND control programme in countries in Africa and Asia has resulted in increased chicken numbers, increased household purchasing power, increased home consumption of chicken products and increased decision-making power for women.

However, sustainable programmes for the control of ND in village chickens have been difficult to achieve, often due to limited appreciation by official agencies of the benefits of village poultry. Experience has shown that a sustainable ND control programme is composed of five essential components: a) an appropriate vaccine and vaccine technology; b) effective extension materials and methodologies that target veterinary and extension staff, community vaccinators and farmers; c) simple evaluation and monitoring systems; d) economic sustainability based on the commercialisation of the vaccine and vaccination services and the marketing of surplus chickens and eggs; and e) support and coordination by relevant government agencies for the promotion of vaccination programmes.

Details of ND control in village poultry are provided on the ACIAR website, www.aciar.gov.au and by the Australian Agency for International Development www.ausaid.gov.au.

Despite efforts to develop intensive poultry production, family poultry (FP) are still very important in developing countries. In most developing countries, the keeping of poultry by local communities has been practised formany generations. FP keeping is a widely practised activity. More than 90% of rural families in most developing countries keep one ormore poultry species (i.e. chickens, ducks, guinea fowls, geese, pigeons, etc.), and all ethnic groups tend to be involved in FP production. Although generally requiring low levels of inputs, FP is an appropriate system for supplying the fast-growing human population with high-quality protein, while providing additional income to the generally resource-poor small farmers, especially women. FP is also a source of employment for underprivileged groups and less-favoured areas in developing countries. However, constraints facing FP production systems are related to high mortality (mainly due to Newcastle disease), housing, feeding, breeding, marketing, credit, education/training, extension and information dissemination. Organizers of FP development programmes must be sufficiently sensitive to socio-cultural and economic circumstances of potential beneficiaries. Developing schemes that aim to promote and improve the FP sub-sectorin a way that is sustainable must not underestimate the specific roles and contributions of relevant members of local communities, as well as their different gender groups i.e. women, men, boys, girls, young and old persons. Therefore, getting new information and other various interventions to the front line of production requires well-designed gender research. This work, which must be done by multi- and trans-disciplinary teams to ensure that the production environment in which FP-keeping farmers work is fully understood, helps to identify the target groups of FP producers for development programmes such as in training, extension, information dissemination, provision of inputs and credit, marketing of poultry and their products. Ways to improve the productivity of FP management systems by taking into account socio-cultural, especially gender, aspects in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages of FP development programmes at community level are also explored.

Rural poultry flocks in developing countries make little use of conventional vaccines or therapies. Appropriate vaccines must be robust, cheap and suited for local production in relatively unsophisticated laboratories. Only diseases producing high mortalities warrant attention. Appropriate therapies depend on local ethnoveterinary knowledge.

Newcastle disease is the most important constraint to the productivity of village chicken flocks. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) initiated projects on vaccines to control this disease in rural flocks in 1984. Thermostable variants of the avirulent strains V4 and I-2 were developed and shown to be safe and effective in laboratory and village trials. Master seed of I-2 vaccine is made available without cost to developing countries. Vaccine is produced by a seed-lot system and involves allantoic sac inoculation of non-SPFeggs. Harvested allantoic fluid is the basis of the vaccine. Sustainable vaccination campaigns require components other than an appropriate vaccine. Appropriate extension messages must be developed to target the neglected village flocks, and the women who usually control them. Systems of cost recovery must be developed. Appropriate training must be available at all levels – to administrators, laboratory staff and village vaccinators. With the control of Newcastle disease, villagers can be convinced of the full potential of their flocks to produce food and income. Other interventions including housing, nutrition and control of otherdiseases can be introduced.

The thermostable vaccines have been tested in at least 30 developing countries and produced on a large scale in at least 9. International agencies otherthan ACIAR and various NGOs have supported the projects. The next village vaccine could be fowlpox, with virus adapted to production in the allantoic cavity.

The major killing disease of duck flocks in Asia is duck plague. An ACIAR project has seen the development of an improved vaccine in Vietnam The vaccine, adapted to grow in cultured chick embryo fibroblasts, is registered foe use throughout Vietnam. Various remedies, mainly herbal, are used on village flocks to improve performance. These probably do not assist in treating established disease.

The commercial industry could ask, are our vaccines too sophisticated and expensive, is there a place for food vaccines, should we investigate herbal remedies and how can we help the rural poor?

The global poultry sector is divided into a large-scale commercial sub-sector dominated by international, vertically integrated companies, and a small-scale subsector that provides up to 90 percent of total poultry production in some of the least developed countries. The fast reproduction cycle, low unit costs, economies of scale in research and appropriation, and control of the produce are driving factors in the commercial sector. Private research concentrates on technologies that are likely to result in market applications and returns to investment. Private incentives for animal research are strongest where markets for improved technology are large, technical advances can be made quickly, and intellectual property can be protected. To date, technological protection strategies and contractual practices, rather than formal intellectual property rights strategies, have dominated in the commercial poultry sector. Poultry breeding companies have developed a highly successful way of protecting their intellectual property investment in superior breeds by exploiting heterosis, and the deleterious segregation of hybrid stocks in the next generation. Thus, by restricting access to the pure parent line stock (a form of trade secret) and by selling F1 generation birds, a breeding company remains the sole supplier of useful material. Patents do not yet play a role in poultry breeding, but breeding for disease resistance might change this in the future.

This paper explores the flow of poultry genetic material between developed and developing countries, investments in the poultry sector in developing countries, and economic and legal issues involved. In terms of genetic resources, the main questions concern how the division in the poultry sector affects the full portfolio of poultry genetic resources and if this division has an impact on the traditional small-scale subsector. The analysis is based on country reports to the First Report on the State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources process, studies on flow of genetic material and commercial transactions, and genetic distancing.

Intact eggs can become contaminated with Salmonella as a result of infections of the reproductive tissues of the laying hens but also by penetration through the shell. In this paper, the penetration of Salmonella through the shell of hen eggs is reviewed. A description is given of the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods used to study bacterial penetration through the shell and membranes. The possibility of Salmonella contamination of the shell after lay is included because shell contamination is the first requisite for penetration. Various factors affect the probability of bacterial penetration. Both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors are highlighted. For the extrinsic factors, the influence of bacterial strain and number of organisms, temperature, moisture and immersion and storage conditions on the probability of Salmonella penetration through the shell is described. With regard to intrinsic factors, the presence of cuticle, shell characteristics (shell quality, porosity, shell defects) and membrane properties are summarized.

Delivery methods for commercial scale applications must be simple, inexpensive and cost-effective. The use of live vectors such as fowl adenoviruses (FAV) has previously been proven successful for the effective oral delivery of chicken interferon gamma to broilers under commercial growing conditions. FAV can be delivered via food or water or can be used as a spray. The ability of cytokines to modulate immune responses to vaccines and their therapeutic and growth promoting capability makes them an important component in future health management strategies for poultry. In this report, we describe the development of recombinant FAV vectors expressing chicken interleukin-2 (ChIL-2) and chicken myelomonocytic growth factor(cMGF). The ChIL-2 and cMGF genes were cloned into the right hand terminal region of FAV serotype 8, under the control of the adenovirus major late promoter. The in vitro biological activity of FAV-ChIL-2 and FAV-cMGF was comparable to that of the corresponding recombinant proteins expressed in prokaryotic (E. coli) and eukaryotic (COS cell) systems. These constructs may be particularly useful as therapeutics formucosal infections.

To understand the relationship between the gastrointestinal inhabiting microbial community and broiler health, a literature review is presented. The available information on the development of gut microbial community, the relationship between commensal microflora and digestive function, the role of gut microorganisms on competitive exclusion of chickens against pathogens, and modulation of the gut microbial community by addition of prebiotics to the diet is summarized. Gut dominant microbial communities become more complex as broilers grow older. The establishment of the dominant bacterial community is affected by dietary and host-related factors. Dietary prebiotics can modulate bacterial community shift towards non-harmful bacteria, which is beneficial for the health of broiler chickens. Gut commensal microorganisms play an important role in the prevention of colonization by pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract of chickens, a process known as competitive exclusion. In conclusion, the dilemma caused by the forthcoming ban of antibiotics feed additives and need to maintain the intestinal health of broiler chickens, has produced an enormous interest in finding alternatives. Modulating the intestinal microbial community in a healthy direction, by dietary ingredients such as prebiotics, could be a good solution.

Around the world, there are 20 types of wild and about 70 domestic quail breeds or strains, including laboratory and commercial quail. Although all domestic quails were derived from wild strains, many obvious differences are evident today. However, how these differences occurred and which wild population was the first to be domesticated, remains unclear. This paper systematically presents the history of the development of domestic quail in China from 770 B.C. to the end of the 20 century. Taking into account recent research on some structural loci of domestic and wild quail, and in the light of recent survey reports of the present general situation of these birds, particularly in respect of their ecological performance and differences between wild and domestic quail, this review puts forward a new thesis forresolving the current uncertainty about the origin of domestic quail. It is suggested that unlike those of Japanese origin, Chinese quail are probably the earlier and more direct ancestorof most kinds of the domestic quail found around the world. Moreover, the review analyzes the possible evolutionary path to domestic quail, which is mainly a result of the flow of people from Japan to China. On the assumption that more and more wild quail populations are endangered, it aims to provide a basis forrenewing knowledge of wild quail resources and supporting the protection and use of these valuable worldwide stocks. This is especially important in China, the last country in the world to have so many wild quail populations. Furthermore, this new insight can promote and assist the world commercial quail industry to develop and flourish.

A previous study by this group demonstrated that a high carbon dioxide tension in venous blood (pvCO2) of juvenile broiler chickens is a reliable predictor for ascites susceptibility.

In a new experiment with five highly selected genetic stocks and two ascites resistant old breeds we studied levels and variability of pvCO2 within each stock at an early age. Effects of different selection traits (principally growth rate) between fast growing sire lines and slower growing dam lines and a commercial hybrid on blood gas (pCO2, pO2) tensions, pH and haematocrit in venous and arterial blood were examined at different ages and compared to values found in ascites resistant breeds. All birds were housed in floor pens in a climate controlled room and subjected to an ascites-predisposing cold environment.

From each stock, 16 birds with the highest (high risk: HRc) and 16 birds with the lowest (low risk: LRc) pvCO2 values were selected at 12 days of age. These birds were marked for future blood sampling to determine changes in haematological characteristics with age and to relate these values to ascites susceptibility. At day 14, eight non-selected birds from each stock were randomly chosen for dissection to determine initial pulmonary arterial pressure index (API) values. Subsequently, all birds were allotted to 8 floor pens (13 birds per pen including two HRc and two LRc birds) per stock. Production performances from 104 birds per stock were measured from 16 to 33 days of age (feed intake (FI); feed conversion ratio (FCR); body weight (BW) at day 33). Mortality was recorded during the complete experimental period. At 5 wk of age, all HRc and LRc birds were necropsied and API values were recorded, which was used to classify the severity of the ascites syndrome.

A convincing effect of pvCO2 values in juvenile chickens on API at 5 wk of age in modern lines confirmed results obtained in the previous study. At an early age, pvO2 values were much less predictive for high pulmonary pressure induced ascites at wk 5 than pvCO2 values. Hypercapnia combined with low blood pH values and followed by hypoxemia (inducing high haematocrit values) provoked a marked high incidence of ascites and high API values in modern breeds.

A total absence of ascitic symptoms within native breeds corresponded with unchanged low API values during ageing from 12 to 33 days of age and with lower pCO2 values in venous and arterial blood compared to modern breeds at all ages. The pvCO2 difference (mean values) between HRc and LRc groups were similar for all modern lines irrespective of age and showed no relationship to growth rate. API, as a reliable indicator for ascites susceptibility, of modern breed chickens correlated with pvCO2 values, but not with growth rate. The high correlation between pvCO2 in juvenile chickens and API values at 5 wk of age indicated that a strong genetic selection pressure on low pvCO2 values at an early age will be an effective method to reduce decisively the occurrence of the ascites syndrome at sea level.

A systematic review of investigations on productivity, mortality and cannibalism of laying hens housed in aviaries is presented. In Part One we reviewed the studies that compared these parameters between laying hens housed in aviaries and in conventional cages. In Part Two we investigated the relative impact of strain, beak trimming and rearing condition on productivity and mortality in aviaries. The comparative analysis revealed that aviary hens consumed 3.0 % more food than caged hens, and food conversion was 6.7 % higher in aviaries than in cages. On the other hand, the mortality rate and cannibalism rate did not differ significantly between the two housing systems. The analysis of causes of variation in productivity, mortality rate and cannibalism rate in aviaries revealed a strong effect of strain. Beak trimming was associated with a reduced prevalence of cannibalism rates but had no effect on overall mortality. It also reduced egg weight and food consumption. Early access to litter during the rearing period had a positive effect on egg weight; egg mass, food conversion and mortality rate. In conclusion, we found a slightly reduced productivity of aviaries in relation to cages although the mortality rates and the prevalence of cannibalism did not differ between these housing systems. To further improve productivity and reduce mortality of hens housed in aviaries we recommend the choice of suitable strains and the implementation of improved rearing conditions including early access to litter.