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Friday, November 4, 2011

A NEW VENTURE: first steps towards Livelihood through Poultry Farming

 First steps are always the toughest one. One needs to gather the courage, assemble all the resources and with sheer determination walk forward towards a new goal.
Same is the story of Mrs.Chungmit Lepcha, a trainee under the Livelihood School, Dzongu, and North Sikkim. Chungmit is a trainee under the course of animal husbandry and management and started her course from March 15, 2011. A wife and a mother of three, she has her share of responsibility towards her family and life in this hilly terrain is very demanding, but she has an interest in this course and is very keen in learning.
 With the help and support of her family members, chungmit showed interest in poultry farming and came to me for advice. I being her trainer and guide gave her all the feedbacks needed and help to set up this small establishment.
 A small space was available for the poultry shed which was fenced and thus made ready for the chicks. Looking for cost effective materials, she was advised to use the saw dust which can be locally available as litter material. The saw dust was dried thoroughly under the sun. The chicks were obtained from ICAR, SIKKIM CENTER, Gangtok. Firstly, 15 chicks were procured and on the second occasion 50 more chicks were procured for starting the venture, thus, with a total of 65 Chics, all the required feed supplements and medicines were brought. The feed was being procured from Mangan. The venture was started during the month of August with the breed Priya and Panaraja.                                     
Local resources like the bamboo were used as waterer and feeder giving it a similar functional use as the linear feeder and waterer. The breed can be reared as broiler or as layers as it is a dual purpose breed. Presently the birds have reached a weight of 1.5-2 kg and the sell is good in the local areas and the demand is high.
The hard work and interest of Chungmit and her family is slowly reaping benefits and the second batch of the chicks which will be brought in will be of greater number. The feed cost is high because of the location of the area as it is one of the remote parts of Sikkim and the transportation charge is very high. So for the purpose she is planning to use the locally available feed like maize, rice and buy the mineral mixture and other protein supplements and try to compose a palatable and rich feed for the birds.
 It is believed that this being just the beginning   and Chungmit and her family progress in this field and make an example in the society and encourage other people to think and act beyond the ordinary.
Issued by
State Institute of Capacity Building.

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