From Contractor To Poultry Farmer – Rajendra Kumar Turns Lockdown Tide Around Into Profits

A local contractor, from the city of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Rajendra Kumar was doing well for himself long before Covid struck. As most stories go, businesses were adversely affected by the government-imposed lockdown due to the virus and local offline businesses as we know it, went on a downhill road of despair.

Rajendra’s father was in the army. As for Rajendra, his early childhood was in the same city, where he finished his education and pursued electrical engineering. He later went abroad to work in Saudi Arabia for over 8 years, later returning home to his family in the year 2002. He was the one to buy the land for the farm, got it constructed and built for fresh poultry. However, his family refused to start up a poultry at the time. They believed that for a respectable family as theirs, working on the poultry farm didn’t look right.

With the lockdown, years later since the construction of the farm, Rajendra faced the brunt of the same as most of us did. With no money in hand and a job that couldn’t pay the bills staying indoors away from the covid strain, all seemed lost. It was also a long time back that he had built a chicken farm but hadn’t made any efforts to start it as there was no rush or need for it during the time. Looking down at the scarce options left in front of him, Rajendra chose to get the chicken farm going.

Talking about the breeds that he raised, he noted how he could acquire more profit with the Kadaknath and FFG breed of chicken. The market rate for the former is very high as is and a good income could be sourced from it. As good as that may be, his area sales for the same breed were not as high. On the contrary, FFG chicken breed were the ones that were high on demand.

Kadaknath as a breed have made a name for themselves in the whole world and are widely known. The ones from Madhya Pradesh have their own geographical indication (GI) tags. The way one could identify a Kadaknath breed is that fact that the chicken is black all over, inside, and out having their flesh and blood both be black. Their meat is also considered to be very beneficial with their high protein and iron content with a considerably low cholesterol content. These would be extremely beneficial for people with diabetes or heart problems.

Getting down to the rates and pricing of the chicken, the market rate for the Kadaknath breed is around INR 70 to 100 whereas its eggs sell for INR 30 per egg. When you convert the same in kilograms, the breed sells for INR 1000 per kg. With demand for the breed rising in the winters, it is a profitable business for the poultry farmers in the season.

The farm is as huge as covering 1.5 acres of land with poultry of around 4,000 breeds of Kadaknaths and 500 FFGs. Starting from around October or November till late March, the sale for the two breeds makes a solid fortune after which there are more of eggs to sell.

Indian cricket legend, MS Dhoni, after retiring from the game has since also involved himself in poultry farming and the likes of it. It was then when he ordered some Kadaknaths from Madhya Pradesh that even the discussions on the breed started gaining familiarity.

Rajendra also explains how even you can start a small poultry farm of your own with simpler arrangements at hand. A shed could be turned into a garden and feeding can be done just once a day. The Kadaknath breed also doesn’t need a lot of maintenance. Their staple food consists of berseem and millet grass. Sufficient sunlight and a good amount of space for the chicken to move around is suitable. Getting the chicken vaccinated on a regular interval is also advised.

A facilitated way to collect eggs and keep the poultry safe from outside unsuitable weather such as rain and extreme heat is also necessary. All this and a lot of care for the chicken will be good enough for one to raise their own poultry.