The Experience with Mini-Hatcheries Technology in Bangladesh

The experience with mini-hatcheries technology in Bangladesh

Rota A.¹,Brett N ¹, Nahar J.², Rahman S.M.R. ²,Ali Y.², Sarwar A.², Fattah K.A.²

¹ International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD. Rome, Italy

² Micro Finance and Technical Support Project, PKSF, Dhaka, Bangladesh

SUMMARY

Mini-hatcheries are successful under the climatic conditions of Bangladesh, although some reduce or completely stop the operation during the winter period from mid November till February. An enabling economic environmentis certainly key for the successful adoption of this technology. However, the challenge is its replicationin other countries where there is a demand of chicks in rural areas. This can be achieved by adapting the technology to a wider range of climatic conditions.

RESUME

Dans des projets de développement de l’élevage rural devolaille, la possibilité de produire des poussins d'un jour, viables à la production et à un coût modéré est un des facteurs de principaux succès pour la durabilité et la viabilité économique. Il est difficile transporter des poussins d'un jour depuis des établissements commerciaux d'incubation vers des régions isolées. Il est donc crucial de les produire directement dans les sites isolés. Le projet de Support a laMicro-finance et aux Services Techniques (MFTSP) mis en œuvre par le FIDA et la fondation Palli Karma-Sahayak (PKSF) au Bangladesh a permis à des femmes pauvres d'utiliser avec profit des mini-incubateurscaractérises par une simple technologie, surtout en résolvant les contraintes de gestion.

Lesmini-incubateurs sont bien adaptés aux conditions climatiques du Bangladesh, bien que certains éleveurs réduisent ou arrêtent complètement les opérations d’incubation et d’élevage des poussinsentre mi-novembre et février. An environnent économique favorable est certainement un élément clé pour l’adoption avec succès de cette technologie. Le défi toutefois est sa réplication dans d'autres pays où il y a une demande de poussins en milieu rural. Ceci peut être atteint en adaptant la technologie à desconditions climatiques différentes.

Key words: Rural poultry development-Day-old chick-DOC-Mini-hatcheries-Bangladesh

I - INTRODUCTION

The Microfinance and Technical Support (MFTS) Project is the result of a successful collaboration between the Palli Karma–Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). PKSF is the apex funding and capacity building institutions for microfinance programmes carried out by various Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Bangladesh. PKSF has been established by the Government of Bangladesh in 1990 for helping the poor, the landless and the asset less in order to enable them to gain access to resources for productive undertakings and/or employment and for enhancing the quality of their life.

The project is being implemented in 97 sub-districts of 13 districts in the south and northeastern part of Bangladesh. The goal of the project is to improve the livelihood and food security of 276,000 moderate and ultra poor households and the empowerment of women by adoption of sustainable IGAs and livestock technology. The project was launched in October 2003 will end in 2010.

MFTS has undertaken scaling up a wide range of appropriate technological packages for investing in rural poultry production as a thrust tool for poor-resource households to improve their livelihood. The project poultry model is characterized by six features: 1) micro-credit for project beneficiaries; 2) NGOs capacity strengthening and building on rural poultry development; 3) organization of the beneficiaries into enterprises, village organization, and unions by NGOs; 4) overall training of stakeholders; 5) equipment and infrastructure development; and 6) monitoring and evaluation. The poultry chain model comprises Model poultry breeders, Mini hatcheries, Chick rearers and Poultry keepers.

In rural poultry development projects, the possibility of producing day-old chicks (DOCs) which are viable for production and at a low cost is one of the key success factors for sustainability and economic viability. DOCs are difficult to transport from commercial hatcheries to isolated areas. It is therefore crucial to produce them in remote locations. An important achievement ofMFTSP has been the establishment and successful operation of a large number of mini-hatcheries for the production of day-old chicks/ducklings. When the technology was introduced in Bangladesh in the 70s, chicken egg hatching was found to be equally successful. Yet, the attempt to disseminate this technology among the poor under various small holder livestock projects since early 90s with support from IFAD, DANIDA and Asian Development Bank (ADB), could not succeed. The main reason was a poor management of the fertile eggs supply chain. As a result, the enterprises were not popular with project participants, and projects had to rely on a limited supply of chicks from the Directorate of Livestock Services (DLS) farms or abandon promotion of improved breeds (Sonali, which is a crossbred between Fayoumi and Rhode Island Red breed) and revert to less productive local chickens (desi) hens. However, the MFTSP implemented by IFAD and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) has made possible to poor women to operate mini-hatcheries profitably, essentially by addressing the management constraints.

II - MATERIALS AND METHODS

Mini hatchery is alocal technique where heated rice husk is used as a means of artificial incubation for hatching chicken/duck eggs. At first this technology is originated in China to hatch only duck eggs because duck egg-shell is less brittle than chicken egg shell. The DOCs are Sonali breed, a cross between Rhode Island Red (RIR) male and Fayoumi female, which allows significant increase of egg production under semi-scavenging conditions. The mini hatchery units can vary in size with a capacity for a few hundred eggs to several thousands, and the establishment cost in MFTSP ranges from about US$10 to US$425 per hatchery. About 10 items are needed for hatchery management (a detailed daily plan of activities is provided in annex I), as follows (see pictures in annex II):

-incubation room

-incubation box

-incubation cylinder

-hatching bed

-petrol lamp

-thermometer

-bamboo tray

-colour cloth

-candling box

-rice husk

At first the incubation box and two (or three) cylinders (which are made of bamboo) are needed to be set up in a dark room (incubation room), possibly well insulated. Thecylinders are to be placed in central point (see fig 1-2 in annex II).Then the vacuum of the incubation chamber should be filled up with rice husk (fig.3).A petrol lamp (Harikan) should always be kept in one cylinder alternately during the entire hatching period to keep the chamber warmup to 98-100 F or 37-38C (fig. 4).

Mini-hatchery owners buy their fertile eggs from other project participants who run small parent farms in confined production systems to ensure the pureness of the parent lines which are Fayoumi females and Rhode Island Red males. After hatching, the mini-hatchery sells their day-old chicks to Chick Rearing Unit (CRU) and after 8 weeks the CRU sells to yet another category of project participants, who keep poultry for egg production. Any surplus of chicken may be sold in the local market.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Up to June 2007,MFTS mini-hatchery owners have completed 2,027 batches. The average chick production per batch was 223 and the hatchability rate 70%, ranging from 23 per cent to 94 per cent. The average of hatchability rate of 70% is very satisfactory, considering that in most of the mini-hatcheries operated with kerosene fuel. Sonaya and Swan (2004) reported that hatchability from 65-75% should be expected.

Women trained by the project / 113
Operating units / 188
Batches hatched / 2,027
Average number of eggs set per batch / 317
Chicks hatched per batch / 223
Hatchability / 70%
Purchasing cost of fertile eggs / Taka 5 (USD 0.073)
Production cost per batch / Taka 2,146 (USD 31)
Selling price of day-old chick / Taka 15 (USD 0.217)
Average gross income per batch / Taka 3,855 (USD 55.9)
Net income per batch / Taka 1,709 (USD 24.77)

Table I: A summary of results with the rice husk hatchery in MFTSP by July 2007

Mini-hatcheries are among the most important Income Generating Activities (IGAs) required to complete the poultry production model chain in the project area. MFTSP reports show that the average net income earned per woman was Tk. 1,709 equivalent to USD 24.77. Earning this amount in a three-week period represents a significant addition to the income of the women who operate the hatcheries (women involved in the project live with less than 1 dollar a day).

This important achievement of MFTSP was however not anticipated in the project design as, at that time, it was widely believed that this technology was not a practical proposition for back-yard poultry in Bangladesh. A number of studies of the Bangladesh poultry model have identified possible reasons why mini-hatcheries had not worked well prior to MFTSP.

The “Study on Danida Support to the Livestock Sector - Smallholder Poultry Sub-Sector -in Bangladesh 1993-2005” (Riise, J.Cet al., 2005) mentions that women dropped out due to problems of profitability and service delivery.

The Bangladesh Participatory Livestock Development Project I (PLDP I) evaluation studyindicates that the mini-hatchery was the weakest link in the poultry production chain. At the time of the evaluation, there were very few operating chick hatcheries, and hatching rates were in the range 50% to 70%. Most operating mini-hatcheries produced ducklings with a hatching rate of 80% to 90%. Chicks from mini-hatcheries were said to have reduced stamina, and profitability was undermined by incubators of the Department of Livestock Service (DLS) selling chicks (presumably Sonali) at Tk8 each, Tk2 below the market price. The study mentions that four out of seven mini-hatchery operators interviewed thought their units were too small, but four also thought training was good, and six said that technical support from local NGOs involved as service providers under PLDP I was good (although only two got regular visits). The same report commented that model breeder units lacked a market for fertile eggs.

The IFAD evaluation study of the SmallholderLivestock Development Project(SLDP) (Dolberg F, Mallorie E., Brett N., 2002) reports that only 13% of DOCs supplies came from project mini-hatcheries. Many hatching eggs for mini-hatcheries came from the market not from model breeders. The average was hatching rate 67%. Mini-hatcheries stopped operating as they lacked a market for DOCs from model rearers. Prices of DOCs were Tk8.00 each, hatching eggs Tk3.00 and table eggs Tk2.75. The authors concluded that DOCs production from mini-hatcheries was technically and operationally difficult, which made them a high risk enterprise and unable to compete with other sources of chicks.

The IFAD Project Completion Report for SLDP-1 also states that mini-hatcheries were unable to compete, due to poor quality hatching eggs, and were labour intensive which acted as a disincentive to continue. There was minimal trade between poultry model enterprises. The hatching rate was in the range 50% to 80% with an average of 67%. There was also an inadequate supply of hatching eggs.

Given this history of failure, why are mini-hatcheries now so successful? The practical training for a complete hatching cycle provided by MFTSP through the DLS duck farm at Narayanganj, together with improved technical support, are held to be major reasons why mini-hatcheries are now working so much better. However the average hatching rate for SLDP-1 of 67% was not much less than the 70% now achieved by MFTSP. There are clearly other additional reasons. These include a reduction in labour inputs as eggs are no longer turned at night, more attractive economics, and better integration into local markets.

Also, the improved economics of mini-hatchery operation are related to theincreases in the premium for hatching eggs over table eggs (which give breeding units greater incentives) and in the margin between the cost of these hatching eggs and the sale price of DOCs. Current prices for DOCs range from Tk16 to Tk21 each, fertile eggs are Tk6.00 and table eggs are Tk4.00 to Tk5.00. SLDP-1 data gives a margin of 166% from fertile egg to DOCs(Tk3.00 to Tk8.00) and a premium of 10% for fertile eggs over table eggs (Tk3.00 compared with Tk2.75). Current margins are much better: 200% from fertile egg to DOCs (Tk6.00 to Tk18.00), while hatching eggs are now worth a 33% premium over table eggs (Tk6.00 compared with Tk4.50). These margins make the operation of both mini hatcheries and model breeders definitely more profitable.

Furthermore, a policy of allowing individual enterprise owners to decide on volume of production, markets and prices contributed to the improvement of mini-hatcheries technical and economic performances. Earlier projects have tried to manage the supply chain though dictating the number and scale of each type of enterprise for one NGO area office. NGOs were themselves heavily involved in buying/selling and in arranging transport logistics. The current approach allows individuals to adjust production scale and seasonality to meet market demands. Individual hatchery owners make their own arrangements for supplies of fertile eggs and some have established their own breeding units for this purpose (and some fertile egg producers have set up hatcheries).

Finally, another reason why market opportunities and the economics of mini hatcheries have improved may be the general growth in the rural economy. Village level demand for poultry is no longer able to be satisfied by traditional desi birds, and rural areas are better connected to towns, allowing them to access urban markets. This means there is a demand for DOCs at the village level and not just in the peri-urban areas that are within reach of automated large scale hatcheries. In the face of this increased demand, subsidised production by DLS farms is no longer able to distort prices. This is the market opportunity that mini-hatcheries are exploiting, with many chicks going for meat rather than egg production (assisted by the fact that the Sonali cross gets the premium price of a desi bird).

CONCLUSIONS

Mini-hatcheries technology proved to be successful under the socio-economic and climatic conditions of Bangladesh, although some reduce or completely stop the operation during the winter period from mid November till February. The main lessons learnt from this experience have a lot to do with sustainable development, as a number of conditions must apply in order for the technology to be successful. Above all there is the Human Factor:

Reduced workload: the workload for poor women has been changed in an important way. Before it was required to turn the eggs during the night while now the requirement is to turn the eggs before going to bed and in the morning.

Gender dimension: basically all operators involved in the process are women. They feel free to contact the project manager, who is also a woman, for any problem they may have. In Bangladesh, this is facilitated by a nationwide network of mobile phones.

Stakeholders’ commitment: All project stakeholders are committed to make the technology succeed.

A second key element is the Economic/Marketing Factor:

Better egg price: there is a premium price for hatching eggs over table eggs.

Increased demand: there is a higher demand for poultry products at village level mainly due to improved purchasing power of rural households and better communications/access with towns and urban markets.

Other key elements are the Enabling Environment Factors:

Appropriate training time and methodology: hands-on training is the methodology that is used. With a learning by doing approach, the women go through a complete hatching cycle (for ducks it is 28 days, for chicks it is 21 days).

Follow-up technical support and monitoring: these are strong features of PKSF’s corporate culture. An important reason for its success with micro-finance is the post-training and technical back-up from technical staff in participating NGOs.

Simple and appropriate technology: mini-hatcheries do not depend on electricity but alternative energy like kerosene fuel which can be used in remote locations with no electricity supply.

Effective management throughout the rural poultry chain: This may include:

-solid rural poultry husbandry knowledge and management, especially on bio-safety principles;

-healthy birds from good genetic material;

-good flow through the rural poultry value chain;

-good and rapid communication;

-built-in linkages between producers of fertile eggs and the mini-hatcheries, and from the mini-hatcheries to DOCs rearers.

The challenge is to replicate this technology in other countries where it is relevant, especially in remote villages or areas not served by electricity. However, some research should be done to expand the technology to be applied under a wider range of climatic conditions. In addition, preliminary data show that hatchability rate is largely influenced by the quality, handling and conservation of fertile eggs before incubation. There is also little information on viability of DOC after hatching. Therefore, more investigations are also necessary to assist project beneficiaries to improve their productivity and thus increasing households’ nutrition and income.