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Cool chickens earn farmers higher profits
(23-05-2009)
A farmer inspects his chickens in Cat Que Commune, Hoai Duc District in Ha Noi.
Air-conditioned barns are more expensive to maintain but poultry are less prone to disease and more profitable as a result.?VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Ha
HCM CITY ? Entrepreneurs in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces are finding that breeding chicken in air-conditioned farms is an expensive but highly cost-effective trade.
The number of air-conditioned poultry farms in recent years has increased significantly in the two provinces as more people find they can earn higher profits and prevent fowls from getting diseases.
Tong Van Huong, chairman of the Minh Hoa Commune Farmers Association in Binh Duong Province?s Dau Tieng District, said despite the high investment costs, air-conditioned chicken farms had high economic effectiveness.
Huong said the investment for building a 1,000sq.m air-conditioned chicken farm was about VND1 billion (US$58,000) compared to VND200-300 million ($11,000-18,000) for a conventional one.
However, an air-conditioned farm which uses cement and steel can be used for up to 10 years while normal poultry farms can be used for only 2-3 years.
With automatic feeding systems that are typically installed in air-conditioned farms, a labourer can breed 100,000 chicken against 30,000 in normal farms.
Huong said a 10,000sq.m air-conditioned farm could breed a brood of 10,000 chickens at a time and farmers can breed 4-5 broods a year in such farms.
At current animal feed prices, farmers can earn profits of VND40-50 million ($2,400-2,900) for breeding 10,000 chicken over a period of 45-60 days, according to Huong, who is one of the leaders in running air-conditioned chicken farms in Minh Hoa Commune.
Huong said Minh Hoa Commune alone now had 20 such farms and several farmers were applying for bank loans to invest in similar projects.
Huong himself is investing in six additional farms that will be able to breed about 80,000 chickens at a time.
Dong Nai Province now has more than 100 air-conditioned farms that breed a total of 1.2 million chickens, accounting for 22 per cent of the province?s output, according to the provincial Department of Animal Health.
The department estimates that the number of chickens bred in air-conditioned farms, mostly in the districts of Thong Nhat, Vinh Cuu, Trang Bom and Long Thanh, can double by the end of the year.
Several farmers with air-conditioned chicken farms have also contracted with major livestock companies including CP, Emivet and Jappa to breed chicken for them.
These companies supply chicks, animal feed and breeding techniques to contracted farmers.
Fewer diseases
"Breeding chickens in air-conditioned farms has also helped reduce poultry diseases due to the closed breeding cycle, good sanitation and quality animal feed," the entrepreneurs said.
Huong said since he switched to breeding chicken in air-conditioned farms in 2003, his broods had never been infected with bird flu.
Nguyen Van Ngoc, who has 10 air-conditioned chicken farms in Vinh Cuu District, said most farms did not have the bad odour and flies like normal chicken farms as the temperature was kept at about 25 degrees Celsius and the farms was constantly ventilated.
This helped to prevent the birds from contracting and spreading diseases, he adds.?VNS
(23-05-2009)
A farmer inspects his chickens in Cat Que Commune, Hoai Duc District in Ha Noi.
Air-conditioned barns are more expensive to maintain but poultry are less prone to disease and more profitable as a result.?VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Ha
HCM CITY ? Entrepreneurs in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces are finding that breeding chicken in air-conditioned farms is an expensive but highly cost-effective trade.
The number of air-conditioned poultry farms in recent years has increased significantly in the two provinces as more people find they can earn higher profits and prevent fowls from getting diseases.
Tong Van Huong, chairman of the Minh Hoa Commune Farmers Association in Binh Duong Province?s Dau Tieng District, said despite the high investment costs, air-conditioned chicken farms had high economic effectiveness.
Huong said the investment for building a 1,000sq.m air-conditioned chicken farm was about VND1 billion (US$58,000) compared to VND200-300 million ($11,000-18,000) for a conventional one.
However, an air-conditioned farm which uses cement and steel can be used for up to 10 years while normal poultry farms can be used for only 2-3 years.
With automatic feeding systems that are typically installed in air-conditioned farms, a labourer can breed 100,000 chicken against 30,000 in normal farms.
Huong said a 10,000sq.m air-conditioned farm could breed a brood of 10,000 chickens at a time and farmers can breed 4-5 broods a year in such farms.
At current animal feed prices, farmers can earn profits of VND40-50 million ($2,400-2,900) for breeding 10,000 chicken over a period of 45-60 days, according to Huong, who is one of the leaders in running air-conditioned chicken farms in Minh Hoa Commune.
Huong said Minh Hoa Commune alone now had 20 such farms and several farmers were applying for bank loans to invest in similar projects.
Huong himself is investing in six additional farms that will be able to breed about 80,000 chickens at a time.
Dong Nai Province now has more than 100 air-conditioned farms that breed a total of 1.2 million chickens, accounting for 22 per cent of the province?s output, according to the provincial Department of Animal Health.
The department estimates that the number of chickens bred in air-conditioned farms, mostly in the districts of Thong Nhat, Vinh Cuu, Trang Bom and Long Thanh, can double by the end of the year.
Several farmers with air-conditioned chicken farms have also contracted with major livestock companies including CP, Emivet and Jappa to breed chicken for them.
These companies supply chicks, animal feed and breeding techniques to contracted farmers.
Fewer diseases
"Breeding chickens in air-conditioned farms has also helped reduce poultry diseases due to the closed breeding cycle, good sanitation and quality animal feed," the entrepreneurs said.
Huong said since he switched to breeding chicken in air-conditioned farms in 2003, his broods had never been infected with bird flu.
Nguyen Van Ngoc, who has 10 air-conditioned chicken farms in Vinh Cuu District, said most farms did not have the bad odour and flies like normal chicken farms as the temperature was kept at about 25 degrees Celsius and the farms was constantly ventilated.
This helped to prevent the birds from contracting and spreading diseases, he adds.?VNS