Starting small, growing strong: Abida builds livelihood through poultry

The useful part

At a time when traditional household practices are gradually disappearing amid changing lifestyles, Abida Hameed of Shirpora in Pattan has revived an age-old Kashmiri practice and turned it into a source of livelihood. What began with just a few desi hens, primarily to ensure a supply of traditional eggs for her children, has now grown into a small poultry enterprise with more than 250 birds. Abida started the unit on her own, without any initial assistance, and gradually expanded it as demand for desi eggs and traditional poultry grew.

How it works

• It was born out of the difficulty of finding genuine desi eggs in the market.
• Keeping desi hens at home was once common, but that tradition is slowly disappearing.
• I found it increasingly difficult to get desi eggs, so I decided to keep hens myself," Abida said.
• She later approached the Animal Husbandry Department seeking assistance but encountered difficulties in setting up the infrastructure required for the poultry unit.
• Instead of waiting, I decided to start on my own and built a wooden shed for the hens," she said.

What to take from it

"I started this mainly because I wanted to feed my children desi eggs.

Details worth keeping

For her, the venture was not initially about starting a business. "I found it difficult to construct a concrete shed in the beginning. That modest beginning has since developed into a growing enterprise.