Key Findings: Antibiotic Stewardship in Poultry

According to the PLOS One study published on November 6, 2026, antibiotic misuse in Madagascar’s poultry sector is linked to knowledge gaps, informal production, easy medicine access, narrow profit margins, and weak veterinary oversight.

The study used semi-structured interviews conducted in April 2023 to show that antibiotic stewardship needs to be tailored to backyard farmers, semi-intensive farmers, animal health professionals, and agrovet sellers rather than treated as a single-sector problem.

• The April 2023 study interviewed 79 poultry farmers, 10 animal health professionals, and 10 agrovet shop workers in Madagascar’s Analamanga region.
• The farmer sample included 13 backyard farmers and 66 semi-intensive farmers, allowing researchers to compare antibiotic-use practices across production systems.
• Only around one in 10 farmers interviewed had heard of antibiotic resistance, according to the November 6, 2026 PLOS One study.
• About one quarter of farmers reported antibiotic treatments that had been ineffective, but antibiotic resistance was not mentioned as a possible explanation.
• The study recommends professionalization, targeted training, vaccination, deworming schedules, treatment records, and stronger guidance from chick and feed suppliers.

The PLOS One study found that antibiotic use was shaped by both health beliefs and economic constraints across poultry farms in Analamanga, Madagascar’s highest-density poultry region.

The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews in Malagasy during April 2023 and used thematic analysis to examine farm management, animal health, medicine supply, antibiotic use, and relationships among poultry-sector stakeholders. The researchers selected participants purposively and conveniently, so the findings describe recurring themes and contrasts rather than statistically representative national patterns.

The PLOS One researchers found that farmers commonly used antibiotics to treat symptoms without identifying a disease cause, prevent illness, respond to chick arrival or feed changes, promote growth, or support productivity. The study also identified use of critically important antibiotics, including enrofloxacin and colistin, as first-line treatments.

The study found important differences between production systems. Semi-intensive farmers generally had greater knowledge of antibiotic use and resistance than backyard farmers, but they relied more heavily on supplier technicians and often viewed antibiotics as essential to maintaining poultry health and productivity. Backyard farmers used medicines less systematically but more often relied on agrovet sellers, family members, or other farmers for advice.

The researchers found that farmers understood the value of prevention in principle, but implementation was constrained by the cost of infrastructure, feed, credit, training, and market access. One farmer summarized the production pressure by saying, "Compared to laying hens, broiler chickens are more quickly profitable."

The PLOS One study shows that antibiotic stewardship interventions should address decision-making conditions, not only individual knowledge deficits.

Researchers designing interventions should segment findings by stakeholder and production system. Semi-intensive farmers may need practical alternatives to routine preventive antibiotic use, while backyard farmers may need accessible disease recognition, medicine-label guidance, withdrawal-period education, and safer referral pathways.

The study identifies chick and feed suppliers as important intervention points because semi-intensive farmers frequently consult supplier technicians. The researchers recommend training these technicians in appropriate antibiotic use, vaccination, deworming, flock management, treatment records, and antibiotic stewardship principles.

The study also shows why qualitative analysis matters in antibiotic resistance research. Interview narratives connected medicine use with short production cycles, unstable feed prices, limited bargaining power, supplier relationships, and the perceived risk of losing birds. A farmer described the pressure directly: "If we don't use one of these treatments, we immediately notice the effects. So far, we can't do without antibiotics..."

The researchers caution that the study used a convenience sample and that future research should validate the findings with representative sampling and quantitative analysis across Madagascar’s poultry sector.

The November 6, 2026 PLOS One study shows that antibiotic stewardship in poultry is a systems problem involving knowledge, access, economics, professionalization, and regulation. The study’s April 2023 interviews demonstrate how qualitative research can identify differences between backyard and semi-intensive farms and reveal why practical prevention advice may not be feasible for every producer. AI-enabled qualitative analysis can help research teams process multilingual interviews, compare stakeholder groups, and turn complex narratives into auditable themes more efficiently. Try Evidano for free to analyze qualitative research data with AI.