After a long life abroad, Mahabubur Rahman of Subarnakhali village in Sharsha upazila of Jashore has found good times again with a chicken farm, built on little capital through hard work and dedication.

After many years in Malaysia, Mahabubur Rahman returned home in early 2019 and fell into financial difficulty. Instead of despairing, he watched YouTube videos of layer chicken farms in different parts of the country, became interested in setting one up himself, and started rearing layer hens.

He first built one chicken shed at his home and began with 1,000 layer hens. He has not looked back since. He now has two good-quality sheds and about 2,500 hens, large and small, which give him 2,003 eggs a day.

Mahabubur Rahman said: "Because of a strong desire and determination over a long time, I started rearing chickens on my own land. Now I have become self-reliant through poultry.

"I now have two chicken sheds. As the number of birds has grown, it has become hard to house them, so I have built two more sheds. In the next few days I will bring 1,500 layer chicks there. At present I can earn about Tk 60,000-70,000 a month, and I want to expand the farm by increasing the number of birds."

He said he had come this far without any government help and wanted to expand the farm if he received government support.

Dr Rubaiyat Ferdous, livestock extension officer (LDDP) of Sharsha upazila, said she was not aware of the matter. "The farmer Mahabubur Rahman has not come to us. We always give all-round support to such farmers. If he comes to us, we will help him with medicines and other matters."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.