THE PROBLEMS OF DUCK FARMING (CASE STUDY OVIA NORTH WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA) EDO STATE. A RESEARCH PROJECT MATERIAL ON AGRICULTURAL  SCIENCE

ABSTRACT

This project work was carmed out in Ovia North West Local Government Area of edo state to examine the problems of duck farming within the area. 5o questionnaires were distributed among farmers in the local government but there response where only analyzed using simple frequency and percentages. From the analysis it was revealed that 30% the farmers attributed the problem of duck farming to disease condition which 80% identified some other problems. The result further revealed that 80% of the respondents attribute the non acceptance of duck meat of superstitions belief another 8% of the respondents further stated that there is no ready market for ducks and ducks raised are reared for family consumption, it was discovered that duck have high resistance to common poultry diseases and their eggs are bigger in size than that of chicken and if the market is created for ducks eggs and meat duck farming will become a gold mine.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0       INTRODUCTION

Ducks are tough animals and good scavengers. They are easier and cheaper to keep than chickens. This makes duck keeping for the production of eggs and meat an attractive enterprise about 700 million ducks are kept around the world, the majority of these more than 500million are found in Asia. Despite this uneven distribution, it is certainly also possible to raise ducks in parts of the worlds, including Africa and Latin America. Ducks can be reared for eggs and meat, for own use or for sale. Other products from ducks which can also be sold include down feathers and fattened livers. There are many similarities between chicken and duck rearing. The most obvious similarities are found in the type of the products for which these forms of poultry we kept duck, like chicken are good producers of eggs and meat.

1.1             BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Ducks however have several advantages over other poultry species, in particular their disease tolerance. They are hardly, excellent foragers and easy to hard, particularly in wetlands where they naturally tend to flock together. Ducks are relatively easy to raise and generally need less care than chickens.

This study seeks to determine the problems and prospects of duck rearing in Ovia North East Local Government Area.