snake kept on a chicken farm

it is common for snakes, especially pythons, to sneak into the chicken pens at night to have a feast of the vulnerable birds. the chickens are indeed easy prey for the python. workers on this farm have to be on the alert for such an attack. the snake usually launch its attack in the night or early hours of the morning.

on this farm, they caught the python but let it live on - in a cage - as a pet. not exactly as a pet but as a source of income. the workers feed the python and when it has attained a certain size, they will sell it off for its skin. the buyer is willing to pay $3.35 for one kilogram. a python which weighs 20 kilograms will be worth about $67.

python is a common name for non-poisonous snakes of boa and python family. pythons are large and muscular, and kill their prey by squeezing, or constricting, until it suffocates. although most feed on small mammals, some large species can kill and swallow small pigs and goats. rarely have they killed humans.

day-old chicks

visited this chicken farm where there are two hatchings of chicks in a week - on a tuesday and a friday. the chicks or rather the eggs have gone through some selection process. first, in the pen, the roosters are mixed with the hen to promote the fertilisation of the eggs. usually, a handful of cockerels are given the priviledge to be with a clutch of hens. aggressive ones are usually removed.

then the selected eggs laid by these hens are placed in an incubator for three days. at the end of the three days, the eggs are scanned to see if they are fertilised. the fertilised ones are then placed back into the incubator. the temperature of the incubator is maintained at a certain degree and the trays of eggs are rotated automatically. the unfertilised eggs are sold off as 'fresh eggs'.
when the time for the chicks to hatch comes, the trays are taken out and left in the open. most of the chicks will hatch normally but those that are a bit slow in emerging or appear to have some defects are left behind to meet their fate.

from the incubator trays, the chicks are transferred to larger plastic trays. they are sorted out according to their colours. each big plastic tray holds about one hundred chicks. before they are sent to another farm, where they will be given the extra care that they need, the chicks are sprayed with some disinfectant. the tender chicks need warmth and protection from the elements which will be provided at this 'nursery' farm.

when they chicks are older and more stable and thus able to withstand the cold, they will be brought back to the farm where they were born.

most of the large poultry farms here, like seng choon at sungei tengah end and chew's at murai farmway seem to concentrate on egg production whereas the farm i visited was more into rearing the chickens for their meat.