New $650,000 breeding shed opens in Qalitu

Fiji poultry producers Rooster Poultry opened a new breeding shed in Qalitu near Lautoka yesterday which will add 630,000 much-needed chickens to the local market by June this year.

The $650,000 breeding shed, built by Elisha Engineering Company Limited within right weeks, will house 5300 birds. The birds are expected to boost Rooster Poultry's breeding capacity by 20 per cent. The company has estimated an annual egg production of 785,000.

"Allowing for mortality tolerances and rejects, this will produce an estimated 630,000 extra chicks for our processing plant by mid-year," Future Farms Limited chairman Malakai Naiyaga said,

Mr Naiyaga was the chief guest at the Rooster Poultry ceremony.

Mr Naiyaga said Fiji was experiencing an unprecedented demand for poultry and the new breeding shed is part of a commitment by the company to invest $1 million into the poultry business.

"This new breeding shed is part of that commitment," he said.

"This year we will also be investing further into our processing plant with an additional $400,000 10-tonne blast freezer to give our production a 22 per cent boost in processing ability to 16,000 birds a day."