The effect of vaccination against Newcastle disease and feed supplementation on production in village chicken in Bamenda area of Cameroon

A study was carried out in Ndop and Santa zones of the Bamenda area in the Republic of Cameroon on the effect of vaccination against Newcastle disease and feed supplementation on production in backyard poultry. The results of the study showed that there was an increase in egg production and weight gain in the vaccinated birds which received feed supplement as compared to the non-vaccinated and without feed supplements. The mortality pattern did not reflect the effect of feed supplementation suggesting that other factors may be responsible for mortality. An economic analysis of the impact of the two interventions on backyard poultry production was carried out using the partial farm budget analysis. It was evident from the results that feed supplementation was beneficial to rural poultry performance and that the inclusion of a vaccination programme against Newcastle disease made the intervention even more beneficial. (author)