Poultry Farmers’ Resilience to the Outbreaks of Disease in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study investigated the poultry farmers’ resilience to disease outbreaks in Oyo State. A three-stage sampling technique was employed. Primary data were collected from 205 respondents with the aid of well- structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Principal Component Analysis and probit regression were used to analyse data. The study showed that most farmers adopted some of the critical biosecurity measures (regular cleaning of the poultry pen, disinfecting the poultry pen before introducing new stock to the pen, infected birds isolated into a separate pen and provision of disposable footwear/footbath) to prevent disease outbreaks. Moreover, 81.2% and 25.0% of respondents with post-graduate certificates and no education had high and low resilience to disease outbreaks, respectively. The result revealed that 92.7% of the farmers with years of experience in the bracket 10-19 had high resilience to disease outbreaks. The result showed that years of experience and flock size positively influenced poultry farmers’ resilience to disease outbreaks. The positive impact of poultry farming experience on resilience highlights the need for continuous training and knowledge-sharing programs. Agricultural extension services should be strengthened to provide both new and existing poultry farmers with timely information on disease prevention, farm management, and biosecurity practices.