Chickens die every cold rainy season, people in the La Lay highlands go to vocational training in animal husbandry
Chickens often die in the rainy and cold season for unknown reasons, so ethnic minorities in La Lay participate in livestock vocational training classes to prevent diseases and develop the economy.
Chickens raised in the village die every cold season.
In the mountainous commune of La Lay, Quang Tri province, where most of the population is Van Kieu and Pa Co ethnic minorities, people's lives are still difficult, mainly relying on swidden fields. Almost every family raises chickens, but mainly to improve meals, very few households boldly develop into large-scale livestock models. The reason is not lack of land or lack of breeds, but the worry of chickens dying every time the cold rainy season comes.
Ms. Ho Thi Nhien's family in Ty Ne village is a Pa Co ethnic minority, every year she maintains a flock of about 20 chickens. The native chicken breed adapts to mountain conditions and grows quite quickly. However, farming is not always favorable.
According to Ms. Nhien, when the weather turns rainy and cold, chickens often get sick and die. In some years, all the chickens her family raises die, causing almost all care efforts to be lost. Not knowing the specific cause or how to prevent it, she only dares to raise a small number, even though she wants to have more income from raising chickens.
When she learned that the locality organized a technical training class on raising meat chickens and breeding chickens, Ms. Nhien immediately registered to participate. "I want to go to school to ask the teacher why chickens just die" - Ms. Nhien shared.
Sharing the same worry, Ms. Nguyen Thi Da, in Ty Ne village, said that her family used to raise chickens, but every cold season, chicken deaths occurred. After many failures, she has stopped raising chickens for several years now. For Ms. Da, the most important thing at this time is not to have more breeds, but to understand the cause of the disease and know how to take care of the chickens to live healthy through the cold rainy season.
Reality in La Lay shows that although poultry farming is a familiar activity, people still mainly rely on traditional experience. The lack of knowledge about disease prevention, care and protection of livestock against harsh weather is becoming a barrier that prevents many households from developing the economy from farming.
Teaching techniques for people to boldly raise livestock
Grasping those difficulties, La Lay Commune People's Committee is implementing vocational training classes suitable to production conditions and the actual needs of the people, focusing on livestock breeding techniques, disease prevention and treatment for poultry.
At the class in Ty Ne village, 20 students were instructed on the technical process of raising meat chickens, breeding chickens and how to prevent and treat common diseases.
The classroom atmosphere was quite lively. People attentively followed documents, exchanged with teachers about situations encountered during the breeding process. Questions such as why chickens die when it's cold, how to prevent diseases or how to care for chickens in the rainy season were discussed.
Mr. Hoang Trung Thanh, Quang Tri Technical College, said that the training course lasts 2 months, focusing on equipping students with practical knowledge so that they can apply it right at home. According to Mr. Thanh, through research, local people mainly raise chickens in the form of free-range, almost no barns are built. When the weather changes, especially in the cold rainy season, chickens are susceptible to disease. Besides, many households do not know how to use disease prevention drugs, and do not pay attention to measures to protect poultry flocks, so they often suffer losses.
Therefore, the training content focuses on farming techniques, care, nurturing and disease prevention and treatment, helping people change spontaneous farming habits.
According to the People's Committee of La Lay commune, the locality's goal is not only to help people know how to raise chickens with fewer diseases and reduce damage, but also to gradually shift from small-scale farming serving families to developing production and creating additional income.
From simple questions about the causes of chicken deaths every cold rainy season, vocational training classes in La Lay are aiming for a practical change: Helping people have knowledge, confidently invest in animal husbandry and gradually improve their lives with the available conditions of their families.
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