Hot weather, lack of manpower affecting production of chickens
KUALA LUMPUR: The hot weather and a lack of manpower have affected the growth of chickens, forcing underweight birds to be sold at the market.
This forced a poultry production company in Jasin, Melaka, to cease operations temporarily.
Federation of Malaysian Breeders Associations adviser Datuk Jeffrey Ng said the company, in a memo to relevant parties and customers, had informed about its closure for two days.
He said the problem was not only faced by the factory but also farmers nationwide.
“Based on the memo issued by the factory, it has urged everyone and its customers to take a twoday break because of the chickens’ slow growth.
“We all (farmers) face the same problem. The hot weather and severe drought make the chickens eat less as they have no appetite. They get tired quickly and drink a lot of water.
“Another reason is the lack of foreign workers. When you want to apply for foreign workers now, you need an accommodation certificate.
“Accommodation is near the farm and this has been the way for almost 20 to 30 years. There is the Certificate of Fitness. That’s why when we apply for new foreign workers, it is not approved.”
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi yesterday said his ministry had received an explanation on the factory’s closure. The measure was to enable chickens to be produced according to the size required for the market.
Nanta said they were informed that the weight of chicken produced was 1.1kg and that they wanted to increase it to 1.8kg.
Some quarters had claimed that the closure was related to poultry industry cartels planning to close farms this weekend in protest against the government’s slow payment of chicken price subsidies.
Ng denied that the closure was linked to the subsidy issue. He said the association had never advised any company to stop production of chickens.
“We are not on strike. We are always in discussion with the government. The situation (factory closure) is a common practice used by farm management to resolve livestock or labour issues.”