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FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq (April 22, 2008) - Eight
months of preparation and planning paid off yesterday when the
Mahmudiyah chicken hatchery received the first of three shipments
of eggs for incubation.
The first batch contained 35,000 eggs shipped to Iraq from
Holland.
"The purpose in bringing in eggs from Holland is that they have
a faster growing rate and they're healthier than chickens from
within this area," said Army Maj. Alaric Robinson, Company A, 411th
Civil Affairs Battalion.
"Thirty-five thousand chickens are expected to hatch from batch
one, with 30,000 apiece from the next two," said Army Capt.
Benjamin Neusse, a civil military operations officer with 101st
Airborne Division's 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 3rd
Brigade Combat Team.
A total of 95,000 chickens of Dutch descent are expected to be
hatched, with an anticipated survival rate of 90 percent.
"The government of Iraq is supporting the redevelopment of the
poultry industry by supporting the Mahmudiyah Qada poultry
association," said Army Capt. Paul Hester, the agriculture business
specialist with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team embedded provincial
reconstruction team. "The association is using the eggs to reopen
poultry farms."
At this point, funding is provided by the Commander's Emergency
Relief Program. However, the Iraqi government is working on a
program to fund the program using its own monies.
"We are working with the [government of Iraq] to get a boost in
fuel allocations and assistance in bringing in the basic
requirements to provide a chicken feed mill," Hester said.
The incubators within the hatchery were already there, so no
additional funding or assistance was needed to source the hatching
of the eggs.
The entire project is expected to last three to four months,
when all potential chickens will have hatched, Neusse said.
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