Zero mortality – Good management practices do pay back

Gauri Naushkar lives with her family of 4 comprising of Goshto her husband, Devdas and Devika her son and a daughter respectively. They live in a dilapidated hutment with tin and bamboo roof. The initial two feet of the walls is made of brick and cement and rest is made of palm leaf matting. The roof leaks during rainy season and she would like to get the house in better shape but can not as she has no funds. Goshto buys potatoes from whole sale dealer and retails it. Income is barely sufficient to meet their basic needs. They own one bigha land where paddy is cultivated. Most of it is used for consumption at home while some is sold for cash.

Gauri had seen poultry being reared since childhood and switched from Desi to Kuroiler after seeing it thriving at her mother’s place. She bought her first flock three years ago and so far her experience has been good. She has not lost a single bird. She takes good care of her hens by allowing them to go out to scavenge for some time (about an hour) and then confines them to the shed.  She feeds onion, garlic, mustard oil and green chilli paste to all birds at least four times a week. She also gives them a Dolkolmi (Ipomoea) herb to eat and claims that its medicinal properties keep the birds immunity high. (Ipomoea is locally eaten by people as anti-malarial and liver tonic). Her birds are trained to eat algae at the pond. Paddy and kitchen leftovers are given as main feed. On outbreak of any disease in the neighbourhood she puts her flock on antibiotic as a preventive measure.

Gauri opines that Kuroiler are easy to maintain and ensure egg and chicken supply to the family. She sells them at 5 months of age and money is used in children’s education. She may sometimes indulge in sari buying. She can spend the money as she pleases. Her husband treats her well and she revels in this fact. Gauri takes all decisions pertaining to Kuroiler herself while decisions regarding major issues are jointly taken.

She is the leader of her group of Swaranjayanti Rojagar program. Being a leader of this group has improved her standing amongst her peers. She saves Rs 30 every month and can avail a loan of Rs 2000/- at 2% rate in rotation. She had taken loan to help out her husband in his business and managed to repay it on time.

She had attended a 10 days training program on poultry management run by the government and is aware of bird flu. She keeps her poultry shed clean by sweeping and washing with phenyl occasionally. Gauri houses her Kuroiler inside her kitchen in a partitioned area. She wants to build a proper shed and would then think of getting more birds. Right now she has no money to invest. Gauri would take up any work that can be done from home. She can’t do Zari embroidery work because of her Spondylitis (neck pain). She helps her husband in cultivating their own land. She puts in labour early in the morning to avoid sun induced headaches. She wants to educate both her children and does not want any more kids. She has gone in for a family planning operation. In her spare time she teaches neighbourhood children free of cost along with her own children. Children in the neighbourhood respect her and she too is happy with her role of a teacher. She keeps a clean house and in her free time watches television and listens to music. Television, cupboard, and chairs have been obtained through an NGO who provide money to buy household items but not to repair / built shed for the birds.

Gauri finds keeping birds an easy activity. She opines that Kuroiler do not need much space and feed requirement is also less compared to other livestock. Work load increases if goat or cows are kept as they have to be fed twice and shed cleaned daily. After receiving training in poultry keeping, she has started giving Vitamins to the birds in addition to the medicines to keep them free of worms. She sources medicines from veterinary centre in Julpia and Amtala. She goes to veterinary hospital herself and has no trouble in accessing these facilities. If she had means she would like to keep 50 birds. She keeps layers for 2-2 ½ years and then sells them or they are consumed.

She wants her son to get educated and get a salaried job while for her daughter graduation and tailoring would be good enough. Gauri won’t get her daughter married at an early age and would wait till she is 20 years old.

Contributed by - Coordination Team

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