Research Studyness

In the past decades, coccidiosis was one of the diseases most feared by commercial poultry farm growers. Death losses of 20 percent or more were common. “Backyard growers” are usually so small that coccidiosis is not a problem, but as the size of the free-range flocks increases, the disease now becomes a threat (USDA Agricultural Research Service, 2005).

Poultry production has undergone rapid changes during the past decades due to the introduction of modern intensive production methods, new breeds, and improved biosecurity and preventive health measures. Moreover, these intensive production methods place high demands on proper health, hygiene and management and require only a small, but very skilled labor force. The progress in industrial poultry production methods has thus had little effect on subsistence poultry production in the rural and sub-urban areas. In these areas, access to poultry meat and eggs depend on village-level poultry production. Although poultry production is considered as secondary to other agricultural production systems, it has an important role in supplying villagers with additional income and high protein (Fanatico, 2006).

Almost all families in developing countries keep a chicken flock with an average size of about 10 adult chickens. Mortalities observed are in the range of 80-90% within the first year after the hatching period. The mortality is believed to be caused by mismanagement, lack of supplementary feeding, predators and diseases (Fanatico, 2006).

Coccidiosis is regarded as the principle factor limiting the poultry production. It is a very infectious disease, which is most likely to affect chicks aged between 10 days and 8 weeks old. After this age, the chicks have usually acquired a degree of immunity to it, except if severely challenged. Unpleasant little protozoa called coccidia cause the disease. Coccidia are host specific or “species-specific”, so they do not affect other livestock of other species. The stage where the disease is passed between birds is called an oocyst. These get passed in the droppings. The oocysts are tough little blighters and can survive over a year outside the body, and are not killed by normal disinfectant (University of Surrey, 2003).

This killer disease on chicks is a parasitic disease that can cause severe losses in poultry meat and egg production. The parasites multiply in the intestines and can cause tissue damage, lowered feed intake, poor absorption of nutrients from the feed, dehydration, and blood loss (Department of Science and Technology, 1988).

Aside from the preventive health measures applied on a poultry production, the researchersa also aimed to find another way that could help control coccidiosis –– whether the height of the coops significantly affects the presence of oocysts in the chicks and to their mean gain in masses.

The study is then entitled, “The Masses and the Presence of Oocysts in the Chicks Situated in the Coops with Varying Heights: A Comparative Study”.

This study aimed to determine whether the height of the coops significantly affects the presence of oocysts in the chicks to their mean gain in masses.

The study uses the Simple Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) which is a technique designed to test whether or not more than two samples or groups are significantly different from each other.

The methodology of the study is summarized as follows:

Three coops were constructed with different levels. The first coop was at the ground level, the second was 45 cm above the ground, and the third one was located 90 cm above the ground. Four two week-old broiler chicks were placed on each of the coops. Throughout the conduct of the experiment, the mean mass and the number of oocysts present in the dung sample from each coop were recorded. In determining the presence of oocysts, the Sugar Flotation Method was used, and the oocysts were approximately counted manually.

Based on the results of the study, the chicks that were on the ground had the greatest number of oocysts present in them, while those situated in the highest coop had the least number of oocysts present in them. The mean gain in masses of the chicks’ group also showed differences. The chicks located in the highest coop had the greatest mean mass gain while those situated on the ground had the least mean gain in mass after. After the mean gain masses were subjected to ANOVA, there lies no significant difference on the mean gain masses among the different chicks’ group. It was therefore concluded that the coop level has no relation to the mean gain in masses of the chicks