Ladakh, the Trans Himalayan part of the Jammu Kashmir State of India, is located
between the Greater Himalaya and the Karakoram Range, known as the ‘cold
desert’, and is comprised of two districts, Leh (45110 km2) and
Kargil (14,086 km2). This area has several peculiar climatic
conditions characterised by prolonged sub-zero temperatures, unfertile sandy
soils with very low water holding capacities, dryness (less than 30% humidity),
low oxygen content, intense solar radiation, low atmospheric pressure, high wind
velocity and rugged terrain. In winter the temperature falls to -35°C and the
altitude varies from 10,000 to 12,000 feet from mean sea level (MSL). The
atmospheric oxygen pressure is 30% lower than of MSL. This type of cold arid
desert isn't akin to the natural environment of poultry, and hatchability is a
big problem due to the climatic conditions in this region. For normal
hatchability at sea level, the oxygen concentration, barometric pressure,
humidity and temperature should be 21%, 740 mm Hg, 65% and 99.8°F, respectively.
However in this cold desert area O2 concentration is 30% lower than
at sea level, barometric pressure is only 510 mm Hg, humidity is less than 30%
and temperature ranges from -30C to +30°C.
In the last two decades, India has reached a level of self-sufficiency in chicken
production, and the poultry industry has become more sophisticated, but the
situation in the cold arid part of Leh-Ladakh in India remains challenging. The
main reasons for this are the non-existence of any commercial hatcheries,
problems transporting day old chicks, poor availability of poultry feed
ingredients and the fact that the majority of the population are Buddhist, and
consequently largely vegetarian and generally avoid killing animals. The
following paper reviews some of the issues of raising poultry in such
inhospitable conditions, and how these can be resolved.