Backyard poultry farming has turned out to be very popular in the tribal dominated Maoist zones of Malkangiri district, thanks to the support of the district administration headed by Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarty.
The Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department with active support from the district administration has taken initiative to operationalise one poultry hatchery at Mathili, 50 km from the district headquarters.
The hatchery was inaugurated recently by Collector Chakravarty. One of the important inputs is to procure quality chicks for rearing in backyard poultry sector. The hatchery is helping out in this regard.
The first batch of Rainbow Rooster bird eggs was set on July 24 and out of 2,058 eggs set, 1,740 chicks have been hatched. The hatching percentage was 85. Rainbow Rooster chicks are dual purpose low input technology colored birds suitable for backyard farming. The day old chicks produced at hatchery are now being reared in a Chick Rearing Unit at Malkangiri. The one-month-old chicks will be supplied to BPl beneficiaries under Backyard Poultry Rearing Scheme under National livestock Mission.
The dual purpose coloured bird chicks will also be supplied to farmers for rearing in the backyard under Odisha Tribal Empowerment livelihood Programme (OTElP).
looking at the good demand for broiler farming in the district, it is also planned to hatch broiler eggs for supply to the interested entrepreneurs at an affordable cost.
Currently, the department is running 46 poultry hatcheries across the State and producing about one lakh chicks per month.
These chicks are supplied for backyard poultry farming under various ongoing livelihood schemes in convergence with the line department. Individual farmers are also buying the chicks at an affordable price and chicks are available in all districts.