Reprinted from World Poultry - by Misset Publications; Vol. 10 No. 12 1994

Backyard Poultry Farmer Becomes Millionaire

SRI LANKA - A school boy who organized a hundred-chick poultry farm in his backyard in 1978 as a means of self-employment, now has an annual multi-million rupee turnover, the local daily reported. He has also found self-employment facilities for about 600 rural families as poultry farmers or about 2,500 persons in Wennappuwa (north western province of Sri Lanka) and the adjacent villages. The proprietor Maxie Perera, bubbling with youthful enthusiasm said, "The need is one of the main qualifying factors to be a poultry farmer in my circuit.  The approximately 600 broiler rearing families earn from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 15,000 each per month, depending on the number of chicks raised." He said that one purpose of his policy is to provide employment to young people in their own homes.  He also mentioned that the poultry farmers do not have to invest anything to set off on business. He supplies them with chicks, gives them the feed and medication, and at the broiler maturing time, he buys the birds at the market price.  When the cost of the chicks, feed and medication and other expenses are deducted, the rearing family has a clean profit. His automated broiler processing plant has been obtained with the assistance of USAID. (ta)