DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE LOCAL PRACTICES FOR BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIVE TURKEY (Meleagris gallopavo L.) IN CAMPECHE, MÉXICO

Abstract

A transversal study was carried out in 48 small-scale poultry production units (PUs) located in Maya indigenous communities in center-south Campeche, México, to understand the breeding and management practices for native turkey (Meleagris gallopavo L.) and establishing a group of PUs as a basis of a development program. Descriptive statistics were estimated and a typological grouping based on a principal components (PC) analysis was made, using the SAS statistical program. The results evidenced the prevailing role of women in poultry management (91.6 %), with age of 46 years or more (43.7 %), and basic schooling (41.6 %). Turkey meat is destined mostly to auto-consumption (60.4 %) and egg for natural incubation and consumption. The flocks are made up mostly by juvenile stage birds with 4.93±0.71 males and 4.7±0.7 females per production unit. Of the producers, 62.5 % feeds adult birds with maize produced in their PU and commercial feed for poults (95.6 %). The most common diseases are respiratory (34.2 %) and digestive (34.2 %), consequence of a low frequency of vaccine application (28.2 %). The broad variation of the PUs was related to the size of the flock, age of sexual maturity, annual sale of adult turkeys, egg production, and years of experience with poultry management, which allowed grouping them into four PC that explained 76.6 % of the total variation. This typological grouping of PUs can serve as the basis for regional development programs.