Poultry Farmers Benefit From Training Course

A total of 25 small poultry farmers from the Watermount and Old Works communities in St. Catherine have completed a 38-hour poultry training course, which will empower them with the skills to improve their income generating projects.
The group, consisting of 16 females and nine males, were presented with certificates at a graduation ceremony held on Thursday (Nov. 29) at the Watermount Open Bible Church.
This is the fifth batch of persons to be trained under the Boiler Management Training Programme organized by the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS). During the ceremony, programme participants Teneshia Thomas, Ezekiel Pearson, Sylvester Skinner and Leroy Campbell, made presentations on brooding, poultry house construction and slaughter house management.
They also displayed mini poultry and slaughter houses, which they built to help with their demonstration.
Project Coordinator and JAS St. Catherine Parish Manager, Jannett Pullen, informed that 100 small poultry farmers, drawn from Waugh Hill, Top Mountain, Kitson Town, and Mountain Pass, in addition to Watermount and Old Works, have so far benefited from the programme. She said that similar training will be held next year for persons in the Bynloss and Jericho communities.
Mrs. Pullen said the project was developed after a survey conducted by the JAS revealed that the rearing of birds was not being done in a structured manner to ensure the production of “wholesome quality meat.” “It was based on this need and the matter of the global trend, where we have to understand that anything to do with human health is paramount, that this programme was developed,” she noted further.
The Parish Manager urged the participants to maintain good sanitation and hygiene practices at the site of their chicken units, noting that bad smelling poultry and pig houses often cause community conflicts.
“We spent a lot of time putting together this aspect of poultry management and the importance of constructing a functional house, that is going to offer some sort of ambiance that embraces and enhances your surroundings in a very positive way,” she pointed out.
Replying on behalf of the participants, poultry farmer Pauline Brown thanked the organizers and sponsors of the project. She said that the farmers were grateful for the opportunity to participate in the training. “The course was motivating, rewarding, interesting and fulfilling. It was worth the while attending,” Miss Brown said.