They must also adhere to good protein levels for the birds by ensuring that they buy and apply the appropriate concentrates, he advised.

Mr Kusorgbor gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a day's field behavioural change results and assessment workshop at Wenchi organised by the Wenchi Poultry Farmers Association.

The event was a follow-up of a trainer workshop on antimicrobial resistance the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in collaboration with the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) organised for 30 members of the Association. Mr Kusorgbor indicated that though vaccination of birds was good to control diseases, however, he advised the poultry farmers to only vaccinate their fowls only when they experienced some diseases or abnormalities in the animals.
He said bio-security remained the surest way to protect the birds from infections, and asked the poultry farmers to ensure that the birds were housed in proper structures and coops.

They must also ensure that fowls bought from hatcheries are in good hygienic condition. Mr Kusorgbor commended the FAO and the VSD for training the poultry farmers, saying it had helped empower the farmers hugely, and they were now making a huge impact in the poultry sector.

Mr George Agyemang, a Senior Public Health Officer at the Wenchi Municipal Directorate of Health, described anti- microbial resistance as a global public health threat, and urged the beneficiary farmers to endeavour to apply the knowledge they acquired and also passed it on to other poultry farmers to benefit.

With the FAO/VSD training, he said he was highly optimistic that the poultry farmers in the municipality would not only produce healthy and high quality poultry products, but would also change the face of the sector in the municipality.

Mr Alhassan Adama, a farmer facilitator and beneficiary of the FAO/VSD training, said the training enlightened the beneficiaries, saying the knowledge they acquired had helped them to control bird mortalities in their respective farms.

Mr Sina Seidu, another beneficiary and host farmer, called for more training to build the capacity of the farmers in poultry production.
GH Cedis (GHS)