Picture retrieved from http://authoritynutrition.com/10-proven-health-benefits-of-eggs/
Benefits to Nepal
Egg production in a backyard system is average around 40 eggs per year, and meat birds generally takes 6 months before they are ready for slaughter (FAO, 2014). This comes from local breeds like Shakini, Ghanti Khuile, Puwankh Ulte and more (FAO, 2014). Owners of Chantecler chickens have claimed to get 200 eggs per year on this website http://www.backyardchickens.co m/products/chantecler. This would increase production by 500%. Which would result in an addition 376 million eggs for consumption and export. Eggs are also a great source of vitamins A,D and E, folate, Iron, zinc, choline, proteins and omega 3 (Egg Farmers of Canada [EFC], n.d.). A study shows that pregnant women in Nepal were commonly deficient in micronutrients (Jiang, Christian, Khatry, Wu, West, 2005). A study of 1165 pregnant women showed that 12% were deficient in folate, 7% in vitamin A, 14% in vitamin D, 25% in vitamin D, 33% in iron and 61% were deficient in zinc (Jiang et al. 2005). All of these and more can be found in eggs.
Selling Chantecler chickens to nepalese farmers may interfere with the farmers that are already selling chicks, but this could be avoided by selling Chantecler chickens directly to them as parent stock and letting them breed and sell them. This would mean that we wouldn’t be able to sell as many from Canada and would mean less profit for a Canadian farmer but it would make the shipping cost a one time thing and, over time, would make it profitable.
Picture retrieved from http://www.helpthechickens.ca/transport.php
Shipping Cost
Shipping chickens by boat would be a long stressful trip and could very likely lead to heat stress and even possible heat stroke. The engines and the humidity can create too much heat for the animal to bare (Phillips, 2008). Shipping by plane would be much faster and less stressful for the animal. To ship four, day old chicks from the door of Active Life Farm in Londonderry, Nova Scotia to Kathmandu, Nepal it would cost around $128.87 through Fedex (quote received directly from https://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home). Assuming they are just day olds with an average weight of 40g (Cazaban, 2005) and another 20 grams of feed and shavings. To ship chickens that are already laying (19 weeks of age) and weigh around 4lb would cost over $500 for just 4 according to Fedex quick quote at http://images.fedex.com/. Only 6% of chicken farms have under 250 birds (FAO, 2014), so 94% are paying well over $31,250 just for shipping.Then the cost of packaging has to be included, which costs $355 for 60 and can hold up to 10lbs from http://poultry2.tripod.com/id3.html. With a max weight of 10lbs, two 19 week old Chantecler chickens can be shipped with food and shavings. For $740 you can ship 250 birds plus $31,250 for shipping and then $1,250 for chickens ($5.00 a bird). For a grand total of $33,240 for 250 birds or $132.96 per bird.
Picture retrieved from http://maritime-connector.com/wiki/dry-cargo/
Export Potential
The Chantecler chicken is not an ideal export to Nepal because of many reasons. My consumer base is poor, small subsistence farmers, since the Chantecler chicken is not a majorly productive chicken ideal for intensive farming. The shipping cost, alone is too much for an average small scale nepalese farmer. This may be avoidable if we can arrange to breed Chantecler chickens in Nepal and only ship enough to start a small flock. The government of Nepal is already working on a poverty alleviation program that provides poor farmers with New Hampshire, and Black Australorp chickens to ensure an adequate nutritional supply to farmers (FAO, 2014). Black Australorp can produce more eggs and equal amount of meat, so the Chantecler chickens would actually be a worse breed. The Chantecler chicken is prominent in cold temperatures but according to Weather Online (n.d.) the temperature only occasionally dips below 0 C, and that's in the nights of December to February. Which barely justifies buying the Chantecler chicken over Nepal's current selection of chickens. Also if their current chickens are stored inside they can create enough heat to keep themselves warm in much colder temperatures. Transporting chickens overseas also make less economical sense if they already have a very similar product in their country. The transport of animals across sea also creates stress for the animals. The heat created by the animals and the motors and the ambient temperature is capable of causing some animals to start sweating and panting (Phillips, 2008). The Chantecler chicken is suited for cold temperatures and would be even less suitable in high temperatures than normal chickens. Chickens bones can easily be broken when they are being caught and are rarely noticed until it reaches the slaughter house (Phillips, 2008). Broken bones cause intense pain to the bird, and the pain increases as the journey distance is increased (Phillips, 2008). Avoiding long distance transport is definitely the humane thing to do, so importing chickens from nearby country like India or China would be preferable.