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This paper discusses climate change and poultry production as their interaction impacts on unemployment in Nigeria. Climate change and animal production have always had a negative impact on each other, with animal production accounting for about 15-18% global anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission in form of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) which are emitted when animals respire. On the other hand, the effect of climate change and global warming on animal production is on the increase and will continue to increase with the high rate of man's industrial activity if not checked. In Nigeria, there is an increasing demand for animal protein and the unemployment rate is increasing yearly because of high increase in population. In order to meet up with this increase in demand for food and reduce youth unemployment in an environment with less climate change challenge, more youth involvement in Agriculture is needed. But, this agricultural revolution will have great challenge on the environment because of the high rate of climate change that goes with industrialization and agriculture. Because poultry have low global warming potential, it has an edge over other animals or livestock such as cattle, sheep, and goat. This is because poultry has low GHGs emission as a result of its low enteric methane production rates compared to ruminant animal species. Apart from poultry being cheap, it is nutritious and readily marketable. In addition, it can be a nice source of investment and income generation for Nigerian youths, if harnessed properly. It is therefore, concluded and recommended that to meet up with the ever-increasing demand for jobs in an environment having less climate change challenges, various government agencies, banks, private sectors, civil society, rural co-operative societies, youth agencies in Nigeria with the assistance of various international donor agencies can collaborate and play a more facilitating role through giving of loans, grants and adequate extension services to ensure that food security and youth empowerment is achieved within an eco-friendly environment through profitable poultry production. Cet article discute du changement climatique et de la production de volaille comme leurs effets d'interaction sur le chômage au Nigéria. Le changement climatique et la production animale ont toujours eu un impact négatif l'un sur l'autre, la production animale représentant environ 15 à 18% des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre (GES) anthropiques sous forme de dioxyde de carbone (CO2), d'oxyde nitreux (N2O) et de méthane (CH4) qui sont émis lorsque les animaux respirent. En revanche, l'effet du changement climatique et du réchauffement planétaire sur la production animale est en augmentation et continuera d'augmenter avec le taux élevé de l'activité industrielle de l'homme s'il n'est pas maîtrisé. Au Nigéria, il y a une demande croissante de protéines animales et le taux de chômage augmente chaque année en raison de la forte augmentation de la population. Afin de répondre à cette augmentation de la demande alimentaire et de réduire le chômage des jeunes dans un environnement où les défis du changement climatique sont moins importants, une plus grande implication des jeunes dans l'agriculture est nécessaire. Mais, cette révolution agricole aura un grand défi sur l'environnement en raison du taux élevé de changement climatique qui accompagne l'industrialisation et l'agriculture. Parce que la volaille a un faible potentiel de réchauffement planétaire, elle a un avantage sur les autres animaux ou le bétail comme les bovins, les moutons et les chèvres. En effet, la volaille a de faibles émissions de GES en raison de ses faibles taux de production de méthane entérique par rapport aux espèces animales ruminantes. En plus d'être bon marché, la volaille est nutritive et facilement commercialisable. En outre, il peut être une belle source d'investissement et de génération de revenus pour les jeunes Nigérians, s'il est correctement exploité. Il est donc conclu et recommandé que pour répondre à la demande toujours croissante d'emplois dans un environnement ayant moins de défis liés au changement climatique, diverses agences gouvernementales, banques, secteurs privés, société civile, sociétés coopératives rurales, agences de jeunesse au Nigéria avec l'aide de divers organismes donateurs internationaux peuvent collaborer et jouer un rôle plus facilitateur en accordant des prêts, des subventions et des services de vulgarisation adéquats pour garantir la sécurité alimentaire et l'autonomisation des jeunes dans un environnement respectueux de l'environnement grâce à une production avicole rentable.

Growth performance and cost of feeding young growing pigs and finisher broilers under integrated broiler pig production system were investigated. Four young growing pigs (the control) were housed in pen A and fed B of their body weight as commercial growers feed. Another 4 were housed in pen B with broilers in cages placed above them and given 2% of their body weight as commercial growers feed and allowed to make up with droppings from the broilers above. Another 4 were housed without broilers in pen C and given 2% of their body weight as commercial growers feed and droppings collected from broilers housed without pigs in pen D. Each pig within a treatment was tagged and regarded as a replicate. The broilers were put in the cages at week 5 and given broiler finisher feed ad libitum. They were removed at 9 weeks of age and replaced with another batch similarly raised, a process that was repeated 3 times in the 12-week trial. The growth rate of the pigs of the control group was statistically similar to that of the group housed with broilers (P>0.05) bur significantly (P0.05) in the feed intake, growth rate and feed conversion ratio of the broilers housed with pigs and those housed without pigs. Cost analysis of the production systems showed that N104.00 was spent on feed to produce 1.0kg live weight of pigs in the control group and N65.00 for the other two groups.

Attempts made to improve broiler production had been focused more on feed with little or no consideration on the impact of litter quality which is a major concern in chicken production not only because it affects the flock health and productivity, but also because it may act as potential reservoir and transmission vehicle for pathogens and potential pathogens. Since blood is considered as an important material for the evaluation of health status in animals, there is need therefore, to investigate the impact of different litter materials on the hematological and serum biochemistry of broiler finisher chicken. A56-day feeding trial was conducted to evaulate the effect of different litter materials on the haematological and serum biochemical indices of intensively managed finisher broilers. Four different litter materials were used for the experiment viz wood, shaving, Groundnut hulls; coconut husks and rice hulls. Wood shavings was used as the control owing to the fact that it is the most commonly used litter in this zone. The coconut husks were manually shred to extract the fibres which was used while the other materials were used as sourced. A toal of 120 broiler birds were used for the experiment, they were divided into four treatments (T1= Wood shavings, T2= Groundnut hulls, T3=Coconut husks, and T4=Rice hulls) of 30 birds each and sub divided into 10 birds per replicate. Each replicate was housed in a pen fitted with broding facilities. Feed and water were given ad libilum for eight weeks. At the end of the experiment blood was collected from the birds, three per treatment given a total of 12 birds. They were analyzed for haematological and serum biochemical indices. Haemoglobin values compared favourably (P>0.05) with that of the control. PCVvalues of T2 and T3 compared favourably well with that of control but significant differences existed (P0.05) resulting in better protein efficiency ratio recorded in all the treatments. Serum electolytes calcium and phosphorus levels recorded in this study shows no adverse effect on the integrity of the liver in boosting cataion/anaion exchange. The haematological and serum biochemical indices recorded in this study showed no notable health challenges on the birds.

This study was conducted for 4 months in the quest to discover natural materials, especially of plant origin, capable of substituting the roles of synthetic materials, especially drugs, in reproductive enhancement of livestock species. Such natural materials will help eliminate the menace of residual effects of synthetic materials on livestock products and probably attract more revenue from them. A total of 24 New Zealand White (NZW) weaned rabbit bucks were used and the study was carried out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD), comprising three treatments replicated four times; MT1 (control), MT2 and MT3 , containing 0, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight of Panax ginseng extracts (PGEs), respectively. Assessment for attainment of puberty started from the age of 11 - 14 weeks on a weekly basis and at 72 h interval thereafter by examining their ejaculate and preputial fluid smeared on a glass slide under a microscope for sperm cells. Semen was collected twice a week for 3 weeks after maturity (6 months old) with the aid of an artificial vagina (AV), using rabbit does as teasers. Semen analysis was done within 20 minutes of collection, following standard procedures. Libido was determined weekly for 3 weeks by recording the time it took the matured rabbit bucks to sniff, groom, and mount the rabbit doe in the initial instance (reaction time); and by counting the number of times the matured buck attempts to mount the doe per minute (libido score). Data generated from this study was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Age at puberty (MT1 = 116.00 days; MT2 = 112.50 days; MT3 = 100.50 days) was significantly (P

Performance and meat quality characteristics of broilers fed fermented mixture of grated cassava roots and palm kernel cake (FCP-mix) as a replacement for maize were studied. One hundred and eighty (180), 7-day-old broiler chickens were divided into six groups of 30 birds, and each group replicated thrice. Six experimental diets were formulated for both starter and finisher stages with diets 1 and 6 as controls. Diet 1 contained maize whereas diet 6 contained a 1:1 mixture of cassava root meal (CRM) and palm kernel cake (PKC). In diets 2, 3, 4, and 5, the FCP-mix replaced maize at the rate of 25, 50, 75, and 100%, respectively. Each group was assigned to one experimental diet in a completely randomized design. The proximate compositions of the diets were evaluated. Live weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass weight, and sensory attributes of the meats were obtained from each replicate and data obtained was analyzed statistically. The results showed that live weight, average daily weight gain (ADWG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and FCR of birds on treatment diets were better than those on the control diets (Diets 1 and 6). The feed cost per kilogram weight gained decreased with inclusion levels of FCP-mix. Birds on diet 1 recorded significantly (p 0.05) higher dressing percentage than those on the other five treatments. The sensory attributes of the chicken meats were not significantly (p 0.05) affected by the inclusion of FCP-mix in the diets. FCP-mix is a suitable substitute for maize in broiler diet at a replacement level of up to 100% for best live weight, carcass weight yield, and meat quality.

A 5-week experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of qualitative feed restriction through the use low-quality diet on finisher broiler performance, and to determine if sufficient compensatory growth can be achieved at that phase of broiler production. Seventytwo (72) 4 weeks old broiler chicks of Anak strain weighing of the average 1.0kg were randomly distributed into two groups, A and B, using completely randomized design. Each group was replicated 3 times with 12 broiler chicks per replicate and each replicate housed in a pen measuring 1.5 m x 2 m. Broilers in group A were given a standard broiler finisher diet continuously for 5 weeks while broilers in group B received a low-quality cheap diet based mainly on palm kernel cake and wheat offal for the first two weeks and then placed on the standard diet for the remaining three weeks of the trial. The birds were weighed at the beginning of the trial and weekly thereafter. At the end of the feeding trial, 4 birds were randomly selected from each group, weighed, sacrificed, de-feathered, eviscerated and their internal organs as well as the abdominal fat, weighed. There was no significant difference in feed intake between the groups (P>0.05) at the end of the trial but the group on the high fibre low-quality diet consumed significantly (P0.05) in the final body weights. There were no significant differences in internal organ weights of the groups (P>0.05). However, abdominal fat weight was significantly (P

No Abstract. Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa Vol. 52 (2) 2004: pp. 111-118

A 28-day feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of dietary inclusion of Ensiled Cassava Peel Meal (ECPM) and Sun-dried Cassava Peel Meal (SCPM) on the performance of starter broiler chicks. Three treatment diets were formulated such that 50% of the maize in diet 1 (control) was replaced in diet 2 with ECPM and in diet 3 with SCPM. Each diet was fed to a group of 20 starter broiler chicks for 4 weeks. The birds fed on SCPM diet recorded significantly (P 0.05) between the control birds and birds fed ECPM diet in terms of feed intake, body weight gain and growth rate. There was also no significant difference (P>0.05) between the control birds and birds fed ECPM but there was significant difference (P International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development Vol. 7(2) 2006: 52-55