Effect of sex, age, diseases, and control intervention on chickens’ mortality and its financial implications in Dodoma, Tanzania

Chicken diseases significantly contribute to the financial losses of small-scale chicken keepers in Tanzania through mortality and control management. However, little is known about the relationship between chicken mortality and disease, sex, and control measures. In addition, the financial losses for farmers in Dodoma resulted from mortality due to diseases and poor productivity due to improper management. A cross-sectional, longitudinal questionnaire survey with multistage sampling was conducted in the Kongwa district and Dodoma municipality to gather data from 400 randomly selected households (200 from each district). Semistructured questionnaires were used for data collection over four quarters of the year. Low morbidity and high mortality due to diseases were observed in first and second quarters (Q1 and Q2), whereas high morbidity and low mortality were observed in third and fourth quarters (Q3 and Q4). The Kongwa district experienced significantly higher mortality than the Dodoma Municipal district (P < 0.001). Disease mortality was negatively affected by cocks, hens and chicks (P < 0.001). Control interventions such as treatment, prophylaxis use lowered the effect of chicken mortality due to diseases and pronounced effects when at least 2 approaches were applied by the farmers (P < 0.005). The total financial loss incurred by the 400 interviewees is approximately Tsh. 119.9 million (52,146.96 USD). This study outlines the financial losses associated with mortality, poor productivity, poor performance, and increased costs of disease management and control in chicken-keeper households in the Dodoma region. To avoid these losses, farmers and other stakeholders should design proper control strategies while considering the season of the year and disease categories affecting chickens.