Preliminary findings on the phenotypic diversity of two Ethiopian village chicken ecotypes presented at an international population and genetics meeting.

Preliminary phenotypic findings by Takele Taye (PhD student, The University of Nottingham and ILRI) were presented in a poster titled ‘ Phenotypic diversity of two Ethiopian village chicken ecotypes’ at The 45th Population Genetics Group meeting, The University of Nottingham 4-7th January 2012.

 

Working towards optimal flock health for better production

Working towards optimal flock health for better production’ Dr Kannan Ganapathy (Gana), Lecturer in avian infectious diseases (The University of Liverpool), worked with the poultry case team at the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research to identify  short and long term areas for improvement. 

At the recent Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research Training Workshop (7-9th Dec 2011), Gana provided an insight into intensive poultry keeping in the UK and other developing countries.  In conjunction with  Tadiose Habte (EIAR, Poultry Veterinarian), poultry staff and students, Gana investigated diseases on the farm and demonstrated appropriate techniques for post mortem and sample collection.

 

Defining the prevalence and distribution of genetic markers of resistance within Ethiopian poultry ecotypes

Work is underway to define the prevalence and distribution of genetic markers of resistance within and between well-defined local Ethiopian poultry ecotypes.  This week, Takele Taye (PhD student ILRI and The University of Nottingham) starts to extract DNA from chicken blood samples collected during the recent field sampling.

Takele Taye (PhD student, ILRI and The University of Nottingham) extracting DNA from chicken blood samples collected during the Chicken Health 4 Development field sampling, Forage Diversity Molecular Laboratory, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Flickr photo credit: ILRI/ Lynch).

 

Ethiopian chicken health 4 development project completes second field sampling in November 2011

 

The field team (staff and students from ILRI, EIAR, The University of Liverpool, The University of Nottingham and Alemya Agriculture University) have returned from Horro and Jarso Woredas.

Chickens sampled in the first season were re-visited and another 400 randomly selected chickens from 8 villages were examined.  Of the chickens examined in May,  5 % (Jarso) and 37% (Horro) had died from disease over the Ethiopian wet season.  The Chicken Health 4 Development project team is currently investigating the cause of these mortalities.

 

Why chicken research for development?

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Tadelle Dessie (Chicken Health 4 Development) prepared an issue brief on the importance of research on poultry.

In the issue brief, he argues that chicken production promises considerable potential to improve the livelihoods of rapidly increasing populations of developing countries.

For many poor people in developing countries, chickens are the only type of livestock they can afford to keep, which are relatively risk-free. Chickens can look after themselves, are an important source of high-quality protein, and provide additional income to resource poor farmers, especially women.

Posted by ILRI clippings News on Livestock and Development 08/11/11

 

New MSc students join the Chicken Health 4 Development team

Two MSc students from Ethiopia will be completing their research project with the Chicken Health 4 Development team.  Eskinder Aklilu from Haramaya University Ethiopia, will be investigating ‘On-farm phenotypic characterization of indigenous chickens and chicken production systems in Horro and Jarso Districts, Oromia, Ethiopia’.  Brehanu Abera from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University will be investigating ‘Newcastle disease virus and Fowl cholera; a longitudinal serological study of Ethiopian village chickens’.

Brehanu Abera (MSc Student- Addis Ababa University) assisting farmers as they help direct field teams to the randomly selected households. Jarso Woreda, Chicken Health 4 Development field sampling November 2011 (Photo credit: Flickr/ ILRI).

 

High prevalence of Eimeria oocytes in faecal samples collected from indigenous chickens in Horro and Jarso woredas

Lisa Luu, MSc student (University Liverpool) has just completed her research project ‘Coccidiosis in Ethiopian village chickens ; epidemiology and identification of Eimeria species using real time PCR’.  Together with members of the Chicken Health 4 Development team, Lisa’s study has shown that there is a high prevalence of Eimeria oocytes in faecal samples collected from indigenous chickens in Horro and Jarso.  In addition, all seven chicken Eimeria species were found to be circulating within Ethiopian.  Molecular characterisation of oocytes highlighted regional differences in the predominant species circulating within each study area.  The findings from this study will soon be published.

 

Paul Wigley visits the laboratory

Isolation of Salmonella from chicken faeces. Poultry research and diagnostic laboratory, EIAR, Debre Zeit (photo credit: ILRI/Lynch).

Dr Paul Wigley, Reader in Foodborne Zoonoses, The University of Liverpool, spent 10 days in the laboratory. Paul was kept busy investigating the cause of disease in several clinical animals at the breeding facility with Judy Bettridge (PhD student) and Tadiose Habte (Poultry Veterinarian, EIAR).  Paul also presented a seminar detailing several poultry diseases and the importance of biosecurity to the EIAR poultry breeding team.

 

3rd year Animal Science Students visit the laboratory

Judy Bettridge, Stacey Lynch and Marisol Collins with 3rd year animal science students from Jijiga University, Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI).

Students from Jijiga University visited the laboratory today as part of an EIAR tour.  Students gained an insight into the project and had an opportunity to observe avian ectoparasites and blood smears under the microscope.  Students were interested the endoparasitic burden in the village chickens and the impact of Newcastle Disease virus on village poultry production.

 

Completion of the first sampling, 03/06/2011

Takele and Kaesch from the health and genetics team weigh a local chicken prior to sampling (photo credit: ILRI/Collins).

After an epic 6 weeks, the first sampling session is complete.  The field team (staff and students from ILRI, EIAR, The University of Liverpool, The University of Nottingham and Alemya Agriculture University) travelled to Horro and Jarso.  The field team visited 400 households and sampled 200 indigenous chickens.