Alex Ehigie

Despite the importance of poultry, its production is still in the hands of small holder farmers, fragmented farm holdings and usage of unskilled labour force. Farming activities are carried out by both males and females where there is often a gender division of labour. This study assessed gender roles in poultry farming in delta State, Nigeria. Specifically it examines the socio-economic characteristicsof poultry farmers in the study area; ascertain the division of labour by gender inpoultry farming; identify factors responsible for the dominance (if any) byanyofthe gender group in poultry farming; identify information needs and source bygender in poultry farming and; identify problems faced by respondents in poultry farming. Questionnaire was used to solicit data from one hundred and sixty(160), made up of 102 males and 58 females poultry farmers and analysed with frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation and hypotheses testingusing t-test Results showed that a higher proportion (43.1%) of male and majority (55.2%) offemale poultry farmers were between 41 and 50 years and most (90.2%) and(93.1%) were married; also majority (54)9% and 63.8%as males andfemalesfamers had poultry experience of between 6 and 10 years. Most (89.4%) and a higher proportion (48.8%) of males and females respectively were involved in preparation of poultry feeds and sourcing of day old chicks respectively. Therewas no significant difference in male and female poultry farmers access to information sources. The study conclude that male gender dominance in poultry farming was mainly strength needed for the task.