Forty Discovery Bay poultry farmers get JBI support to rebuild after Hurricane Melissa

Some forty poultry farmers in Discovery Bay, St. Ann, now have added skills and supplies to help them return to production after Hurricane Melissa struck in October.

The session was delivered under the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) Bauxite Community Development Programme (BCDP). It took place on June 30 at the Port Rhoades Club and forms part of a wider poultry recovery effort.

Through the initiative, each farmer is set to receive 50 broiler chicks, 10 bags of feed and continued technical support. The aim is to help them rebuild their livelihoods and get back to commercial output within about six weeks.

Wesley Harley, Senior Projects Officer at the JBI, told JIS News the programme was shaped to help poultry operators bounce back after many lost birds and other farm assets during the storm.

"The project is aimed at assisting communities which are attached to the bauxite community councils to be restarted after the advent of Melissa. The folks around here tell us that they were devastated by Melissa, as the assets that they had, even the chickens that they had in production, they lost all of that," Harley said.

"So, in recovering, it's been a very slow start. What this project aims to do is to give them a booster for them to get started again," he added.

Harley said the effort is not only about short-term restarts. It is also meant to encourage poultry farmers to stay in the trade for the long haul.

"We hope, and we are very adamant about this, we want them to continue in poultry production from here on. The objective of the programme… is to get them restarted and on the way to production so that they totally recover from the damage that they suffered from Hurricane Melissa," he said.

He noted that Nutramix has teamed up with the JBI to provide follow-up technical guidance through farm visits and monitoring. That support is intended to help farmers raise production and market their birds successfully.

Dr Gilbert Williams, Veterinary Manager at Nutramix, said the training centred on practical flock management so farmers could rebuild stronger, more efficient operations.

"Post-Hurricane Melissa, a lot of birds would have died, and a lot of farmers are reconstructing. So, this presentation also serves as a model as to how to build a coop… the orientation of the coop is also very important and the location of the coop is important," Dr. Williams said.

He stressed that good ventilation and strict biosecurity are essential to keeping flocks healthy.

"We should always strive to have all mesh around the perimeter of the building, no solid sides because that will hamper the ventilation. Once the birds are not properly ventilated, they won't eat as much feed… and biosecurity is very, very important," he emphasised.

Discovery Bay Community Council member and poultry farmer Sanyah Johnson said the workshop gave participants useful, hands-on knowledge they can apply on their farms.

"There are things that we didn't understand, so we got to learn about them today. We learned how to take care of the chickens before they are sold… the proper housing, lighting, watering and feeding as well. It was a good experience for us," Ms. Johnson said.

The poultry push falls under the JBI's Bauxite Community Development Programme, which backs agriculture, education, infrastructure and other community projects in Jamaica's bauxite-producing areas through partnerships with public- and private-sector bodies.