Most of the feed required for poultry production in the Republic of Yemen is imported from Europe. Sometimes, feed shipments arrive later due to lack of hard currencies to pay for the feed or to pay the freight charges. Yemeni broiler producers in such cases feed their birds a single feed ingredient or a mixture of ingredients until feed arrives. Five experiments were conducted to simulate feed shortage situations. As a single ingredient, barley is the grain of choice in case of feed shortages. When broilers were switched to corn-soy after the single ingredient diets, the compensatory growth was correlated with the severity of reduced growth. Feeding diets with a mixture of faba beans + sorghum grain with or without 7% herring meal for 21 and 49 days, respectively, reduced significantly (P<.05) mean body weight, total feed consumed, feed efficiency and apparent protein efficiency ratio. Feeding wheat bran at 10-15% with adjustment for protein and energy from day-old to 49 days of age resulted in significantly (P<.05) improved mean body weights compared to the control broilers. Increasing wheat bran levels further gradually reduced body weight and feed consumption. Abdominal fat increased significantly (P<.05) when wheat bran inclusion exceeded 20 percent. Cellulase supplementation did not show any significant interaction with wheat bran in all the measured parameters. Supplementing protease to wheat bran diets significantly (P<.05) reduced mean body weight, feed consumption and the feed conversion in broilers. These dramatic effects were proportionally ameliorated by increasing the levels of wheat bran. / Graduation date: 1991

This study analyzes the impact of the Poultry Extension and Training Subproject (PETS) on the village household in North Yemen. The subproject was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Oregon State University The primary goal of this study was to determine the impact of the subproject by using a survey conducted among 130 village women. The questionnaire used in the survey was designed to determine changes in consumption and production, management practices and the effect of extension information. There were three major discoveries uncovered in the survey: (1) management practices were not significantly influenced by PETS personnel; (2) the project was not the only source of Golden Comet pullets; and (3) the use of egg-laying pullets did help increase egg production and consumption. A secondary goal of this study was to analyze the project design and a 1984 evaluation in order to understand how the project could have been more effective in its purpose. It was found that although the project designers used the USAID "logframe" and conducted a social soundness analysis prior to project implementation, too little research was conducted about subsistence poultry care and the role of rural women in agriculture. Success of the project was based on several unfounded assumptions which prevented the subproject from having a more positive impact on traditional poultry farmers. / Graduation date: 1989