Assessment of broiler production in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to assess the production of broiler birds in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. A total of 60 broiler farmers were randomly selected in the study area. Data were collected using well-structured questionnaire and personal interview. Descriptive statistics, enterprise budget and multiple regression models were used to analyse the data. The result showed that males dominated the broiler business with 62.3% with average age of 41.4 years, average household size was 5 persons, majority of the respondents were able to obtain tertiary education (61.67%). The result also shows that farmers made an average net profit of N974, 280.58 per production cycle. The result of the regression analysis shows that cost of feed negatively influenced the amount of revenue realized and was significant at 1% while farm size and years of experience positively influenced the farmers’ revenue at 5% significance level. Double log model was chosen as the lead equation because it showed the highest R-squared ratio of 0.7615. This means that the explanatory variables included in the model were able to explain about 76% variation in the revenue of broiler production in the study area. Major constraints in broiler production include; high cost of feed, high cost of day old chicks, inadequate extension services and inadequate funds. It is recommended that farmers should include non-conventional feed in feeding the birds in order to reduce the cost of feeding.