Farmer-reported chicken-health challenges and perceived dust exposure near a mine tailings facility

Mine tailings facilities can generate airborne particulate matter with potential implications for environmental quality and livestock health. This study assessed farmer-perceived dust exposure, reported chicken-health challenges, and poultry-management practices among households located at different distances from a chromite mine tailings facility. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to August 2025 among 202 indigenous-chicken farmers in three spatial groups located approximately 1.96, 6.60, and 18.24 km from the facility, corresponding to 1–5 km ( n = 70), 6–10 km ( n = 77), and >10 km ( n = 55), respectively. A 17-item semi-structured questionnaire assessed household and flock characteristics, management practices, perceived environmental dust conditions, farmer-reported chicken-health indicators, mortality, and treatment practices. Distance groups were compared using Kruskal–Wallis tests followed, where significant, by Holm-adjusted pairwise Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Binary logistic regression evaluated factors associated with farmer-reported chicken-health challenges. Farmer-perceived dust accumulation, dust visibility, and environmental contamination differed among distance groups (all p < 0.0001), as did chicken-health challenges, nasal discharge, reduced activity, number of visibly affected birds, mortality, and use of traditional remedies ( p ≤ 0.0092). Visibly affected birds decreased progressively across distance groups, whereas mortality and traditional-remedy use had higher mean ranks in the 1–5-km group. Conversely, perceived environmental indicators had their highest mean ranks in the >10-km group, indicating no simple distance-response pattern. In the multivariable model, perceived dust visibility (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03–0.19) and environmental contamination (OR = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.08–0.27) were negatively associated with reported chicken-health challenges, whereas visibly affected birds were positively associated (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.15–1.82). Mortality and traditional-remedy use were also associated with the outcome, although the latter estimate was imprecise (OR = 20.8, 95% CI: 1.20–360). These cross-sectional, farmer-reported findings provide baseline observational evidence and do not establish causal or seasonal relationships. Structured farmer reporting may complement veterinary surveillance in smallholder poultry systems. Future studies should integrate seasonal surveys with environmental monitoring, clinical assessment, laboratory diagnostics, and spatial exposure analysis.