Stephanie Elliott, Gleaner Writer
May Pen, Clarendon:
Some 20 small poultry farmers from Clarendon participated in a poultry rearing training exercise at the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) office in Denbigh recently.
The exercise, which is organised by the JAS, is the third in a series of training expected to last over seven months. Farmers were exposed to revolutionising ways to sanitise and medicate birds to obtain optimum results. Previous training dealt with site selection and bird house construction.
JAS parish manager, Janet Pullen explained that the aim of the course was to put together a user friendly manual for small poultry farmers to ensure that they implement the current procedures to achieve quality and safety.
Target group
Poultry farmers targeted involved those who raise 300 or less birds at a time. It is hoped that through training they will be empowered to produce quality birds under environmentally friendly circumstances, thus enabling them to market their produce and be competitive in a more globalised economy.
The JAS parish manager added that the Ministry of Health would be brought on board to ensure that poultry farmers obtain their food handlers permit and certify the quality of meat prior to marketing.
Some key pointers given during the training exercise include: the importance of a foot bath and proper cleaning before rearing poultry; proper care of new-born chickens, proper administration of medication and brooding techniques.