Performance of Community-Based Managed Scavenging Hens Under Different Nutritional Interventions, and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Supplementation

This study evaluated the performance of community-managed local chickens under different feed supplementation regimes in Lilongwe, Malawi. Three feeding regimes were tested on-farm: scavenging only (SO), scavenging-and-supplementation with maize bran (SMB) and scavenging-and-supplementation with simple diet (SSD). The simple diet consisted of equal proportions of maize, maize bran and soybeans. Twelve households were involved, with four households per treatment. Results were analysed using one-way analysis of variance through Minitab 17. A cost-benefit analysis and return-on-feed-cost were also performed. Findings showed that the feeding regime influenced hatchability but did not affect other performance parameters. Body weight was variable in all groups but was not statistically different. At the end of the experiment, birds in the SO group laid numerically more eggs per clutch and had numerically higher egg mass per household. Furthermore, findings showed that it is uneconomical to supplement chickens with a simple diet, as the diet had negative gross margins and negative ROFC when calculated based only on egg income. We conclude that supplementary feeding of scavenging hens from point-of-lay to 14 weeks in production did not affect body weight, shank length, egg production or fertility. Hatchability on a fertile-egg basis was, however, improved by supplementation with the simple diet.