Some of Affecting Variables on the Knowledge and Implementation of Technical Recommendations by Rural Women in the Field of Home Poultry Breeding in Two Villages in Menoufia Governorate

The research aimed mainly to Identify the female respondents' knowledge and implementation of the technical recommendations in the field of home breeding of poultry, to identify the sources of information for the rural female respondents on the technical recommendations in the field of home breeding of poultry in the study area, to determine the contribution of the independent studied variables in explaining the variation in the degrees of knowledge and the implementation of the female respondents of the technical recommendations in the field of home breeding of poultry in the study area,  and to identify the problems facing rural female respondents when raising home poultry, as well as their proposals to reduce these problems in the study area.
Menoufia Governorate chose as a field for conducting this research, as it is one of the largest governorates in the number of holders. The comprehensive research sample represented in the wives of farmers who raise poultry at home and who possess agricultural land from the Official Records 2 Possessions of Agricultural Cooperative Societies, in the villages of Mit Rabia, and Ghamreen in the center of Menouf. The data collected using a pre-prepared questionnaire form and through personal interviews, after testing the validity of the questionnaire to achieve the objectives of the study. Data collected during January and February 2021.
The most important results are as follows:
- It found that nearly four-fifths of the female respondents had a high level of knowledge of technical recommendations in the field of home poultry breeding, and nearly half of the female respondents had a high level of implementation of the technical recommendations in the field of home poultry breeding.
- As for the knowledge of the female respondents for the technical recommendations in the field of home breeding of poultry, the concern was for the disinfection and cleanliness of poultry pens, and the provision of a clean source for drinking. As for the care and nutrition field, the knowledge was: not to use agricultural drainage water to drink poultry, and feed on balanced chopped rations. As for the field of safe handling of waste, the knowledge was: General cleanliness of the workers in the barn, not to throw dead poultry into the water of canals and drains.
- As for the female respondents' implementation of the technical recommendations in the field of home poultry breeding; as for the field of breeding, the implementation was high in providing a clean source for drinking, paying attention to the disinfection and cleanliness of poultry houses, and good ventilation of the barns. In the field of care and nutrition, the implementation was high in feeding on balanced and chopped diets, and regular vaccination of poultry against diseases, as for the field of: safe handling of waste, the implementation was high in the general cleanliness of the workers in the barn, and the dead poultry was not thrown into the water of canals and drains.
- Six variables contributed to explaining the variation in the knowledge scores of rural women respondents with the technical recommendations in home poultry breeding : the degree of cultural openness of the respondent, the degree of innovation of the respondent in the field of poultry farming, the degree of cooperation of the respondent in the field of poultry farming, the degree of frequency of the respondent's visits to  the change agents, the number of  educated persons in the respondent's family, and the number of family members of the respondent.
- Four variables contributed to the explanation of the variation in the degrees of implementation of the technical recommendations in home breeding of poultry: the degree of cultural openness of the respondent, the number of educated people in the respondent's family, the degree of innovation of the respondent in the field of poultry farming, and the degree of cooperation of the respondent in the field of poultry farming.
- The most important problems facing rural women respondents in home raising poultry were exposure to the risk of loss as a result of sudden diseases affecting poultry, failure to disburse feed rations to rural women, and poor market conditions. And that their most important proposals to reduce these problems were: Providing vaccines and serums at the veterinary units, facilitating procedures for obtaining loans for raising poultry, and providing poultry food at reasonable prices with support.
-Based on the research findings, it is recommended to continue to hold advisory seminars, especially on how to use food substitutes, to follow dates for vaccinations, how to identify poultry diseases, and to train veterinarians, agricultural extension agents, and production requirements dealers in the field of poultry due to the large number of rural female respondents resorting to them to benefit from their information in this field.