25-year-old Rahil Mushtaq with a Master’s in Business Administration degree is credited with the introduction of foreign poultry breeds in Kashmir.
Mushtaq’s foreign chicken breeds are selling like hot cakes with some breeds even costing Rs 60,000 a pair.
The young man completed his MBA from Kashmir University in 2021 and he set up a poultry farmhouse on the city outskirts after the Covid lockdown had made life come to a standstill.
He said he imported a few flocks of chicken from America, China, Ireland, the Netherlands and Turkey during that period and his farm instantly became popular after exhibiting them on social media.
“I was very fond of animals since my childhood. My parents used to purchase chickens and I used to keep them as pets at home”, Mushtaq told UNI.
Mushtaq had also qualified for prelims of prestigious Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) in 2021 but did not pursue it further. He chose poultry farming as his profession.
“I initially spent Rs 15 lakh in the poultry farm,” he said.
He said during the Covid-19 lock down he brought a few imported chicken breeds to start the business.
“I used to upload the stories on social media about the imported chickens and I got enormous encouragement from the people,” he said.
“As the news of foreign chicken availability spread, people used to visit my farm house to know more about them. They would later purchase these chickens even at high cost without any hesitation for keeping them as pets,” he added.
He cited the example of American Wyandotte breed chicken which costs Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 at his farm at Illahibagh Soura. He said the well off people purchase these flocks joyfully to keep them as their pets at home.
Mushtaq said there are other international poultry breeds including Silver Partridge Brahma, American silky, Snow White Brahma, Malaysian Serama, Japanese Onagadori, Barbu Bantam and Buff Columbian Brahma available at his farm.
“Currently I have about 200 birds of 20 to 30 different breeds from various countries available at our farm,” he said.
He said that after every two weeks he is changing the breeds on offer as he is importing fresh chickens with different origins to provide more choice for the customers.
Mushtaq said he is satisfied with his farm business.
He said his parents have always encouraged him and his brothers are helping in operating the business.
He said the people from other districts of Kashmir valley including Anantnag, Baramulla and Bandipora are also purchasing chickens from his farm on wholesale rates and selling them in retail in their respective areas hence earning a livelihood.
Mushtaq urged the educated youth of the valley not to wait for the government job and those who have passion to start a particular job should go ahead without wasting time. UNI