Murray Maclean

Chicken production systems are usually classified according to the intensity of production, either intensive, semi-intensive, or traditional, and the primary output of production, either meat or eggs. The more intensive the production system, the more capital is invested, the higher the management level required in terms of input management and product marketing, and the higher is the poultry enterprise contribution to the whole farm income.

In Cambodia, traditional village-level chicken raising is carried out by nearly all farming families. The emphasis is on meat production for sale and home consumption but eggs are sometimes collected and sold instead being hatched. Very few traditional raising units at village level have been elevated to semi-intensive level.

In recent years there has been an increased number of intensive egg and meat production units near to Phnom Penh and Battambang, utilising imported breeds and prepared feeds.

This discussion will be limited to traditional raising as carried out by rice-farming families.

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There appear to be four major breed types of chicken in Cambodia, according to Gauthier (1995), quoting Sarom (1995) as follows: Jai chickens: These are small poultry, with yellow/orange feathers with white spots, and red crest. These are considered to be closely related to the original forest-type chickens Sompuwv chickens: A large chicken with deep yellow or red feathers, commonly found near the Vietnamese border, but also in other places. It has a reputation produces lar Skuoy chickens: These have black shiny feathers, and a red comb. Fighting chickens: These are large chickens wit long legs, the males commonly used for fighting.

Farmers commonly refer to two types, the jai and the kok, the former referring to the small local chicken, and the latter to a larger local chicken type. The majority of village chickens are crosses between the various types, and are commonly referred to as "local" breed chickens, with the result it being very difficult to identify any specific breeds. Similar to village chickens throughout the world it is well adapted to minimal input village scavenging conditions, where nutrition is poor, and parasitic and infectious diseases are common. In Cambodia as in other countries in the region, village poultry raising is characterised by regular outbreaks of disease, presumably Newcastle Disease, that causes a high rate of mortality.

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MAFF Statistics 1996-97 indicate a total poultry population of nearly 11.5 million, which is of the order of 1.2 poultry/head of population. It is difficult to estimate the proportion of these that are ducks, since separate statistics are not always maintained for the two major types of poultry. FAO reports that 1996 chicken numbers as 10,100,000. The following table shows numbers of chickens in Cambodia from 1961 to 1997 according to official statistics.

Figure 28: Chicken population in Cambodia 1961-97, in ,000 head. Source FAO 1997

This shows a large increase the chicken population over the period from 1961 to 1997, in a similar pattern to that seen in the pig population. According to these figures, chicken numbers were in 1997, approximately 2.5 times the number of chickens in 1969.

It should be understood that the above figures should be taken as a general guide only. Leaving aside the unlikelihood of chickens being counted accurately, there can be enormous within year variations as to the number of chickens, at least on a village basis, due to disease outbreaks that kill many chickens. Sources also vary as to the actual population. For example, Tichit (1982) records that there were 4,700,000 chickens in 1967, whereas FAO source used above records 3,080,000 chickens.

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The distribution of poultry throughout Cambodia is shown on the following map. It shows the concentration of the poultry population in the populated provinces around the major market in Phnom Penh.

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Cambodian village chickens begin producing eggs at around 6-7 months old, when they weigh from 1.2-1.5kg. They begin by going through a laying period of 15-20 days, during which they lay about 11-13 eggs. There is usually no specialised hen house for the hens to stay in at night, and where eggs can be safely deposited.

The hens incubate the eggs by sitting on them for a period of 21 days. Of these eggs, only about nine will hatch into chicks. Once hatched these chicks follow the mother hen for a period of about two months, after which they will fend for themselves. At this stage males can be distinguished from the females by their larger appearance and crest development.

By six months of age, there is likely to be only about five surviving chicks due to deaths due to the effects of parasitism, poor nutrition, infectious disease, and predation. The males are usually sold or eaten at this age, when they weigh around 1.5kg. Some females may be sold or eaten, but it is necessary to keep some females for breeder replacements.

If hens do not die during disease outbreaks that regularly sweep through the villages, they may be kept by the farmer until they are 2-2.5 year old. By this stage they are considered old and their egg production has dropped. In fact, hens that survive the disease outbreaks are often proudly announced as such by the farmers.

This pattern of reproduction and production from a hen in one year, without serious disease outbreaks is illustrated below:

Figure 29: Pattern of reproduction of one hen in one twelve month period, with some indicative numbers of chickens in each age group, numbers of chickens sold, and timing of sales.

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A MAFF 1995 survey found the following relative numbers of adult males, adult females, and chicks.

Figure 30: Flock Structure of chickens in Takeo, Kandal, Prey Veng. Source MAFF survey 1995

This table shows similar flock structures in the three provinces, their being on average one male to every ten females, and 2.5 chicks to every adult female. The survey was carried out in May so it is possible that many villages would have recently had an outbreak of disease which would be expected to reduce numbers of chicks.

In a theoretical flock structure, where hens consistently raise five chicks to 6 months of age, in four clutches a year, the flock structure would show a ratio of chicks to adult females of around 13:1, much higher than the 2.5:1 shown in this table. This may indicate some non-laying hens or a high death rate in young chicks. In the survey results, it is suggested that there is a large number of non-laying hens, but the question asked to farmers in the survey was ambiguous therefore it is difficult to interpret.

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The regular occurrence of disease that kills a large percentage of chickens dominates the pattern of flock structure through the year, and forces the farmer to retain many of the young females to try to ensure that he continues to have breeding hens to keep producing.

In a self-replacing flock of one hen which regularly replaces breeding females, and has a no serious outbreaks of disease, the following flock structure is seen:

Figure 31: Flock Structure of one-hen self replacing flock in a 12 month period, during which there are no serious disease outbreaks. No eggs are sold. Inside the squares are indicative numbers of chickens for each age group. See table above for legend.

In this model, the breeding female is replaced at the age of one year. This means that one young female each year needs to be retained as a replacement. Average chicks per hen is 12.8, and sells 19 chicks per year.

In the real situation in Cambodia, there are regular outbreaks of disease that kill many chicks and some hens. The following is an example of a flock with a serious disease outbreak at the end of May that kills 90% of chicks, but no hens.

Figure 32: Flock structure of a flock with a serious disease outbreak at the end of May that kills 90% of chicks, but no hens. No eggs are sold from the flock.

In this model, average chick per adult is 9, and sells 9 x 6mo chicks per year.
A model of a flock in which there are two outbreaks, end of May and end of November, in one (November) of which the hen is also killed appears as follows:

Figure 33: Example of a single-hen self replacing flock which there are two outbreaks, end of May and end of November, in one (November) of which the hen is also killed.

This flock has an average chick to hen ratio of 5:1, and sells one 6mo chick only.
The real situation is probably somewhere between these last two examples, that is 1-2 serious outbreaks of disease per year, with low-level disease in between times. With such a high level of disease, it would not be surprising that farmers would collect and eat or sell eggs

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Village chickens are free range scavengers that are fed supplements, which are primarily energy supplements, of white rice or paddy, which is usually cast over the ground in the yard of the house. Gautier (1995) states that young chicks may be given a supplement of white rice equivalent to 250 grams/day/10 chicks (amount equal to one can or kompong), and that an adult hen with her chicks may be given from 50-250 grams paddy/day. Some farmers give nothing to the chickens from November to April, considering that there is sufficient rice in the ricefields.

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Indicative Gross Margins of a single hen flock with three scenarios of health control are shown below. Scenario one is poor health control and two disease outbreaks per year, the second is poor health control and one disease outbreak per year. The third is good health control and no disease outbreaks per year.

Table 43: Indicative Gross margins for single-hen enterprise with varying degree of health control.

The above table shows the large effect of health on profitability. In the good health option, only vaccines and treatments are carried out. No extra housing is provided.

The following is an example of scenario one above:

Table 44: Indicative Gross Margin for single hen self replacing flock that experiences regular disease outbreaks.

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