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Practices, Housing and Diseases Within Indigenous Poultry Production in Eastern Cape, South Africa

In an effort to improve the livelihood of indigenous farmers in South Africa, little input has been accorded to documentation and validation of some practices of poultry production farmers in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa which is the objective of this study. One hundred and Sixty (160) structured questionnaires were administered in six villages from two district municipalities using non-probabilistic (snowball) sampling method from July 2017 to June 2018. Results reveal that 73.1% of indigenous farmers are female, 24.38% reared mostly for household consumption, 48.1% flock ranges from 10-50. In addition, about 46.2% of farmers practiced semi-intensive rearing systems. Diseases (63.52%) and Theft (51.94%) are major challenges affecting most chickens. Most farmers used both ethno veterinary (Aloe ferox 32.5%) and medicinal drugs (Terramycin 42.5%) for treatment of diseases respectively. Correlation between diseases and housing was insignificant across different villages. The cleaning system, place of purchase and stage of purchase are highly significant across different villages. Most farming practices are positively correlated across different villages. There is need to assess farming practices adopted, this will help in proper planning and in maximizing profit across indigenous poultry production.