Feather-Gram

              R{ COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
NE\AI MEXICO STATE
I'. S. DEPARTMENT OF
UNIVENSI
AGRICULTURE
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Las Cruc€s , New l{exico 88001 Volume L4, Number 8 August 31, L973
Mission Accomplished in ParaguaY
At 8:00 A.M. on the morning of August 17, I arrived at the Kennedy Inter-national
Airport in New York after about a 13 hour flight fron Asuncion with
stops in La Paz, Bolivia and Lime, Peru. Arrival- in New l"lexico was the evening
of iugust 22 after a short visit rsith my nother in New Jersey. The transition
from winter to sunner qras not as bad as I expected. I'Ie had had a few warm days
just prior to my depart.ure which was PostPoned a week at the request of Dean
Ruiz of the Facultad de AgronomLa y Veterinaria'
I can report that the laboratory for poultry diseases, although delayed
the first month after my arrivalr'has been set up and is- functioning. The
last week of ny stay Dr. Revllli and I were able to make some bacterial cultures
whlch started the first research project in poul-try diseases in that country'
He w111 be culturing rectal swabs for salmonellae with the object of determining
the incidence of pnilor.rr among the poul-try flocks. Once this is determined
they can establ-ish a pullorum testing program simiLar to our program in the
United States. They lnust denonstrate the presence of the disease befdrre formal
action can be taken to set uP a pullorun control Program. In addition, Dr'
RevilLi will be doing diagnostic work for the poultrymen. Thus, the first
laboratory for the study of poultry diseases is now functioning in' Paraguay'
This nas aecomplished through the cooperation of the New Mexico State University
MLssion working with the AID Program in that country' --
In addition to the dLsease laboratory, several other things ltere accomP-Lished.
A light program for the country was developed whJ-ch should appear in
the locaL Pouitry-Journal-, "Avieultura Paraguaya". Thelr dayLight cycle runs
from about LO Llz hours in the winter to l-3 L/2 hours in the suulmer' .However,
;i;;;; i. "totr.r-i"-tfr.
ri"a"r because of very dark, overcast rnornings and
evenings which have a detrimental effect on egg production.
Considerable tine lilas sPent reviewing and making suggestions for a
Broiler Production Proposat wfrfcn was being developed by a Farurerst toan
Orgatization with the help of the US-AID PrograD. Unfortunately, technically
trained people are lackin! for poultry in Paraguay. Thus, poultrymen have
a difficult time getting assLstance.
During farn visits, many complaints ltere heard regarding the quality of
feed. Some were Justified as bad weather interferes with the normal trans-portation
of feed ingredients - Particularly soybean meal; This means that a
l-ocal coconut neaL rnay be used. This meal is poor as its amino aci*d bal-ance ls
not satisfactory for ioultry. Through the cooperation of Dr. C' E; Ilaines'
our Anima} Nutritionist with the NMSU-USAID progran, and a delightful senorita'