Water Quality And Combination Ratio In A Chicken-fish System

Integrated Chicken-fish farming (ICFF) is a type of animal-fish farming and is a low cost system of fish production that involves the combination of chicken farming with fish culture. However, its practice entails the risk of transfer of pathogens to humans through the consumption of fish grown with chicken manure. In addition, heavy metal deposition into the fish receptacle through manure and spilled chicken feed may lead to metal concentrations in excess of permissible limits. This work assesses the effect of chicken wastes (manure and spilled feed) on the physico-chemical parameters and heavy metal concentrations in a chicken-fish system with the goal of determining the best combination ratio for laying chicken and fish under direct fertilization. The study recommends a combination ratio of 3,000 laying chickens and 80,000 fingerlings per 1 hectare fish pond for a vertically integrated chicken-fish system. Metal concentrations in the muscles of the two fish species used for the study (Oreochromis niloticus and Clarias gariepinus) were below FAO limits and the consumption of fish muscle from such systems operating within the combination ratio and culture period used for the study