Lao Closed Farm Opens Opportunities

KHAMMUAN, Laos - One poultry farmer claims that her animal husbandry methods both provide prevention of avian flu and increases profits too.

The owner of Saleuamsak Farm, Phonemy Keochanthala, built the farm in Khammuan province in 2001, before the H5N1 avian flu reached Laos. This was the first enclosed chicken farm in the country.

She has two sheds that are externally sealed and thus receive minimal exposure to the outside world. Fresh air is provided by cooling system. The second shed cools the air by running water through pipes.

The two buildings house about 11,000 chickens.

“I decided to build this sort of farm after I saw that Thai farmers had adopted the system. It is very effective, both in preventing disease and generating profit,” she said.

The water-cooled shed cost 400 million kip and houses 6,000 chickens. The fan-cooled shed cost about 250 million kip and accommodates 5,000 chickens.

Her old open-style farm required three workers to care for 6,000 chickens, but the new farm needs only one.

“Closed buildings are very easy to clean. In the past, I had to hire extra workers to clean out the farm once a week. Working conditions here are better too. On open farms, workers are outside all the time, which is uncomfortable in hot weather,” she said.

Likewise, “our chickens live in better conditions and eat more food than those raised in open farms, so egg production does not drop with the change in seasons,” she added.

From her experience, she says that 96 percent of chickens living in an enclosed environment are capable of producing eggs daily and for longer periods.

“I started to import chickens at the same time as my friend, who has an open farm. His brood stopped laying, while 60 percent of mine continued to produce eggs, even after two years,” said Phonemy.

It takes five months for chicks to develop into full-grown chickens, and the period of peak egg production is when they are about six months. “Nowadays, I cannot supply eggs in large enough numbers to meet customer demands,” she remarked.

Despite the fear and threat of bird flu, Phonemy’s business has remained successful. This is even as others have shied away from poultry farming, especially since the authorities placed a ban on chicken imports when bird flu hit farms in Vientiane in July 2006.

“At the moment I can’t expand the farm because of government bans on imports,” she commented.

Phoney launched her poultry business in 1995. She is also a trader in fish, and has invested in a rubber tree plantation. There are four chicken farms in Khammuan province, and the other three all operate as open farms. (Viengsavanh Phengphachan)

(This article was produced under the Imaging Our Mekong media fellowship programme 2006-07, coordinated by IPS Asia-Pacific with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation.)