KUALA LUMPUR: Hot weather and insufficient workers have affected the growth of chickens, forcing underweight birds to be sold.

This also forced a poultry production company in Jasin, Melaka to close operations temporarily.

Federation of Malaysian Breeders Associations (FLFAM) advisor Datuk Jeffrey Ng, who confirmed the matter, said that the company, in a memo to relevant parties and customers, informed its closure for two days.

He said this problem was not unique to this factory but is something that is affecting farmers nationwide. He added that it was up to them to temporarily cease operations or go on as usual. 

"Based on the memo issued by the factory, they have told everyone and their customers to take a two-day break because of the chicks' slow growth.

"If you ask me, we all (farmers) face the same problem. The hot weather and severe drought. The situation makes the chickens eat less, have no appetite, get tired quickly and drink a lot of water.

"Another reason is the lack of foreign workers. When you want to apply for foreign workers now, you have to have an accommodation certificate. Accommodation is close to the farm and this has been the way for almost 20 to 30 years ... where is the CF (Certificate of Fitness)? That's why when we apply for new foreign workers it is not approved, "he told Berita Harian.

He was commenting on the temporary closure of a chicken factory in Jasin, Melaka, which will take place at the end of this week.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, yesterday said his ministry had received an explanation on the closure. The action was to enable chickens to be produced according to the size required for the market.

The Minister explained they were informed that currently the weight of chickens produced was at 1.1 kg and they wanted to increase the weight to 1.8 kg to avoid problems when sold at the market.

Some also claimed that the closure of the poultry factory was related to poultry industry cartels planning to close farms this weekend, in protest against the government's slow chicken price subsidies payment.

Ng denied that the closure of the poultry company was linked to the subsidy issue.

He said no matter what happened, the association has not encouraged companies to stop the production of chickens.

"We are not on strike. We are always in discussions with the government. The situation (factory closure) is a common practice used by farm management to resolve livestock or labour issues," he said.