Bottleneck in Creating Layer Breeds of Chickens in Nigeria

This study was carried out from a retrospective study of all undergraduate and postgraduate researches conducted on chickens in the Department of Animal Science of some Western and Eastern universities (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ibadan, and National Animal production institute, NAPRI, Zaria) in the northern part of Nigeria. The breeding strategies in some world-renowned breeding companies were also studied. The study further compared the various methods utilized for the creation of egg-type chicken by the researchers at the universities and institute with the methods adopted by successful breeding companies for the course of genetic improvement of a pure breed popularly known as the broiler or layer breed. The parameters used for evaluation included scope of breed of chicken (exotic or local), statistical model, heritability, and correlation, variance, mating systems, selection methods, uniformity of research environment, breeding methods (conventional and biotechnology), and emphasis of breeding goals. Finally, the study attempts to recommend a cheaper and a practicable plan to create a layer pureline. There is no gainsaying that that the bottleneck of creating layer breed of chicken in Nigeria has been exhaustively evaluated in this study. The challenges comprises technical, financial, and inertia, and ineptitude of leadership elicits poor funding cum environment lacking the resilient approach and technical know-how ranging from inappropriate models to methods. We recommend firm breeding policy and adequate international funding for the proper alignment with the world chicken breeding strategies to help position Nigerian poultry industry to deliver its SDGs predicted goal of providing food security for the global populace by 2050.