English Edition        النسخة العربية

By :Professor Osama El Sheikh Yassin

              History    Open System                  Closed  Egg Production                                 Closed broiler production                            Perspectives          

Poultry designates species of birds which renders man an economic service and reproduce freely under his care. The term includes chicken, turkeys, ducks, geese, swans, guinea fowl, pigeons, pea fowls, pheasants and ostriches. It also includes rabbits. Chicken keeping is widely practiced in the Sudan followed to a lesser degree by pigeon. Other types of birds receive minor or negligible concern. Recently raising of ostriches as a business is coming up. The local type  of birds include:

                          Betwill,     Bare Neck   and     Baladi 

The local birds are represented by the large Baladi   , the Betwill and Bare Neck birds. The former hen has a potential for up-grading and is a general purpose bird under village and rural conditions. This bird was developed in the Geziera Province and irrigated schemes especially when crossed with White Leghorn males. The hybrid had high egg production rate than the local birds and the white color was dominant over all other colors and was more uniform. The project of up-grading native birds  made  a good start  but  then stopped for lack of follow-up and for financing problems. This project could still be augmented for improving  village local birds. Care must be exercised   not  wipe off local birds in up-grading efforts . Purebred local birds  should be maintained and  their numbers promoted  because they are valuable genetic resources that evolved under the conditions of the Sudan

.      The Betwill  is small sized native hen. This bird is likely to find a place in modern poultry production that calls for small compact bird or  even dwarf bird with least feed conversion ratio and high egg or meat production. The Betwill bird from Kordofan and Nuba mountains  area  may meet that target being small and compact  and lays 70-80  eggs  under adverse natural conditions .Such bird  should be maintained under improved management to promote their numbers. They should be looked upon as  a  valuable genetic resource that must be preserved for future use

   The Bare Neck bird is found in many parts of the country but received very little attention. Such birds are finding considerable attention in some foreign countries as a bird more adapted to hot and tropical areas. This bird avails a genetic reserve potential for heat stress ; a limiting factor   to poultry development in tropical areas  generally and the Sudan specifically.

Historical Background

There is only but fragmentary information on  the history of poultry in the Sudan .As  early as 1926 pure bred Wyandotte were imported by a British subject . By 1928 the first booklet on poultry  was written by A. A. Mcloghry  under the name (Poultry Breeding in the Sudan) . In 1951 Khartoum North  Central  Poultry Farm  was established  as the beginning of government  investment  in poultry keeping  in the Sudan . The main aims were

a. To study and identify and record potentials of local indigenous birds .

b. To study the performance of such birds  under improved management  and assess potentialities. 

c. To  up-grade local birds using pure  bred  White Leghorn males and to  follow performance of crossbred birds .The ultimate objective is to use   White Leghorn males for propagations of crossbreds in  rural areas if the trial succeeded.

d. To study  and evaluate performance  of different pure breeds and evaluate their  adaptability  to local condition  of the Sudan.

e. To study  the nutritive value of Sudanese  feed  ingredients and to formulate the best nutritive least cost rations for broilers and layers.

f. To establish a  unit to supply day-old chicks and feed for interested people.

g. To serve as a training center for technical staff or those on job training.

   By 1963 these activities were transferred to the newly established and still existing Kuku Central Poultry Unit( now Kuku Poultry Research Unit ) under the Animal Resources  Research Corporation  .In addition to the above objectives the Unit was anticipated  to serve  as an extension focus and research center to generate data  that would assist in proposing a national poultry development plan

Traditional Open System

Like many other African and Asian countries the Sudan  is dependant on local and indigenous birds as the main source of poultry meat and eggs. This is because they are adapted to local environment They require the least possible care, feeding cost is minimal and can withstand climatic stresses and poor hygienic conditions. They can live as scavengers in towns, rural areas and with the nomads in their seasonal migrations. In spite of low productivity local birds render profit without expenses incurred neither in items or stock

           The most widely spread    system is the traditional free system in which birds live as scavengers in towns, rural areas and with nomads in their seasonal migrations. The main drawbacks of the system are that it is not receptive to new technologies and is static to development.  It also does not cope with the supply and demand requirements. It mainly relies on local and indigenous birds which supply 80-90% of the total table eggs whereas large scale and fully integrated projects provide the remaining 10% .The average annual production is 50-80 eggs/hen ;egg weight varies from 40-45 g.

Most of the broiler production in the Sudan comes from fully integrated projects. The targeted production for these projects is 13.3 million  broilers and actual production  is 5.3 million  leaving a gap of 8 million broilers. In addition about  20000 tons of broilers originate from the traditional sector in the form of males and spent-hens.  Broilers are mainly produced and processed by large scale environmentally controlled units .At present 5.3 million birds are produced annually by these farms mainly in Khartoum State. There is high demand for broilers but prevailing prices pose a limiting factor.

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About 90% of table eggs in the Sudan are produced by birds kept in small and medium sized units under the traditional system of production. The   weight of the egg  varies between 40-55 g. The remaining 10%   of table eggs is produced by large scale units mainly in Khartoum State. Egg weight varies between 55-60 g. There is no color preference The   most used type of birds are the indigenous types and White Leghorn crosses, hybrids and strains. Eggs are marketed by number and not by standard size grades

About 90% of table eggs in the Sudan are produced by birds kept in small and medium sized units under the traditional system of production. The   weight of the egg  varies between 40-55 g. The remaining 10%   of table eggs is produced by large scale units mainly in Khartoum State. Egg weight varies between 55-60 g. There is no colour preference The   most used type of birds are the indigenous types and White Leghorn crosses, hybrids and strains. Eggs are marketed by number and not by standard size grades                                                                                                            Baby chicks

Perspectives

Sudan has unique chance for developing successful poultry industry because the feed component that contributes to 60-70% of the running cost is locally produced. Only 5% of the feed ingredients in poultry diets is currently imported as super concentrate ; the remaining 95% is indigenous. More poultry products will be consumed  as per capita income increases as a result of economical improvements 

The  targeted per capita consumption over 25 years is as follows:   

     To fulfill this strategy  several support services should be encouraged particularly  in the area of infra-structure , project-building ,feed industry , diagnostic services ,veterinary medicines , disease surveillance, vaccine production and  marketing .                                               

     The general agricultural policies in the Sudan encourage  projects that contribute to production , sustain feed security and utilize available resources. The poultry industry shall benefit from governmental support to research and development in poultry as well as from marked expansion in agricultural education that avail a large number of technicians for this growing industry.       

             Future investment in the poultry business may include projects for parents and grand parents production during 25-year strategy plan. Establishment of facilities for inputs and end-products are needed together with diagnostic laboratories and vaccine production facilities.   

     Counting on the huge feed resources of the Sudan an expansion in poultry feed manufacturing, for both local consumption and export, should be encouraged .Similarly efforts should be devoted to manufacture f premix and super concentrates which account for more than 20% of the cost of birds’ diet .

There are many research issues that warrant investigation especially in the area  of production economics   and  environment , diseases surveillance and control; Introduction and development of heat alleviation technology ,formulation  of least cost rations , vaccine improvement and development , improvement of marketing channels and introduction of sales  on grade and quality bases. Many countries like Egypt, Iraq , Iran and  India have   developed their  own local birds  and it is  high time for the Sudan to follow suit.

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