Jahangir Hossain of Kalukhali in Rajbari now collects nearly 40 rare breeds of chicken from around the world, including Sebright, Brahma, Pencil Leg and Sumatra. He started in 2016 with three pairs of foreign chickens as a hobby, and his farm now holds about 150 birds of foreign breeds. Remarkably, a pair from his farm sells for anywhere from about Tk 20,000 to Tk 1 lakh.

Keeping the birds costs Jahangir Tk 15,000 to Tk 20,000 a month, while he earns Tk 25,000 to Tk 30,000, so he has now taken it up as his profession. If the government helps him overcome visa problems in travelling abroad, he wants to collect more foreign breeds and enter the Guinness World Records as the biggest chicken collector.

Jahangir, of Boalia in Kalukhali, was in India on personal business in 2016 when he saw foreign chicken breeds on the internet and took an interest in rearing them. He started with Aseel, Turkey and Kadaknath birds. Seeing the demand for foreign chickens, he then travelled to India, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries to collect birds.

His farm now has about 150 chickens of nearly 40 breeds, including Brahma, Silkie, Sebra, Silver Sebright, Golden Sebright, Polish Cap, Sultan, Parrotliv, Wyandotte, Sumatra, Silver Lace, Cosmo, Aseel, Crested Polish Cap, Mottled Japanese, Blue Barlage, Black Tail and Yokohama. Many hobbyists visit the farm every day to see the colourful birds, and many are being inspired by his example.

A pair of Indonesia's Inchi Manik bred on his farm sold for Tk 1 lakh and a pair of Vietnam's Tauran for Tk 70,000. At present Sumatras sell for Tk 50,000 a pair, England's Sebright for Tk 15,000 to Tk 20,000, the American and Colombian Brahma for Tk 15,000 to Tk 16,000, and England's Pencil Leg for Tk 25,000 to Tk 30,000. Day-old chicks sell for Tk 1,000 a pair. Hobbyists from across the country regularly contact him through his website, Etcetera Agro and Hatchery dot com, and his page.

Local residents Liton Sheikh and Sobhan Molla said Jahangir lives next door, and they came after hearing about the colourful foreign chickens on his farm. They were amazed. The birds are very beautiful, they said, and nobody would believe it without seeing them: some have long tails, some crests, some beaks like a parrot's, all in bright colours. They had never seen such chickens before and now want to start similar farms themselves.

Jahangir said he started with three pairs in 2016 out of a hobby and later collected other foreign breeds as he saw the demand. He now hatches chicks from the eggs with a machine he made himself and sells them online. It began as a hobby, he said, but is now his profession.

He has travelled to several countries to collect chickens but cannot go to many others because of visa complications. He wants to collect rare breeds from more countries and have his name entered in the Guinness World Records as the biggest collector of foreign chicken breeds, and he has asked for government help in resolving the visa problems.

Dr Khayer Uddin Ahmed, Rajbari Sadar upazila livestock officer, said such chickens cannot be reared on a commercial calculation; many people keep them as a hobby, and Jahangir of Kalukhali is among the foremost. The livestock office gives all kinds of help to such hobby farmers, he said. He said the farm has about 30 breeds of chicken from different countries and that Jahangir hatches chicks from their eggs using a machine he devised himself. He called the work praiseworthy.

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