DQ "CLEAN" CHICKEN

Lot 3.19, Plaza Ampang City,

Tel: 4251 6580  Fax: 4251 6604

 

January 28, 2004

 

Dear Customers and Stockists,

 

You are rightly concerned about the Avian Flu (AI) epidemic in neighbouring countries.  

 

AI is spread mainly by migratory wild waterfowl and spreads especially fast in countries which practice the rearing of ducks with chickens or where duck farms exist next to poultry farms.  This is the case in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia.  Fortunately for us, duck is not a popular meat and is not widely reared.  Further, there is no duck farm integrated with poultry in Malaysia. 

 

The questions consumers need answered is how safe is the meat from infected birds and whether it is fit for human consumption. 

 

To answer that, we must know that the virus that causes AI is very susceptible to heat.  Secondly, it does not produce any toxins.  As such, if the meat is cooked well, there is no danger to consumers.  Recent reports of  Vietnamese siblings dying after eating infected chicken refer to a family slaughtering and processing themselves some 10 infected chickens bought from the wet market for a wedding reception.  Only the siblings who did the slaughtering came down with the disease, not the wedding guests who ate the chickens.  This is a clear indication that you get the disease from live sick chickens but not from cooked chickens.  This does not mean that sick chickens are being sold in Malaysia.  On the contrary, farmers are now on heightened alert and all chickens that show the slightest signs of being unwell, are quickly removed, tested and destroyed. 

 

Having said the above, DQ Chickens, in our opinion is less likely to contract the disease in the event of an outbreak in Malaysia. 

 

Firstly, DQ Chickens are free ranging with a minimum of 10 sq. ft of land for each bird.  The birds are moved to fresh fields every 10 days or so.  This is different from commercially raised chickens where the chickens are kept in houses with about 1 sq. ft of space per bird.  An environment like that is a potential breeding ground for any virus or bacteria that enters the environment.

 

Secondly, DQ Chickens are fed immune boosting herbs every day.  The environment is sprayed daily with a cocktail of beneficial microorganisms which "competitively excludes" harmful pathogens like bacteria and viruses.  Our chickens have demonstrated repeatedly that they are better able to cope with a challenge to their immune system than commercially grown chickens.

 

Thirdly, DQ Farm is isolated.  There is no commercial chicken or duck farm in a 10-km radius, and this isolation protects the farm against most diseases.  The farm does not permit visitors or outsiders inside and this further protects the farm against visitors bringing in disease from dust particles on their shoes, cars, etc.  Being at the foothills of the Main Range, it is far from the migratory path of waterfowl.

 

Fourthly, DQ Farm is financially sound.  Should there be any early sign of an outbreak in our farm, we will act responsibly and cull all birds and shut the farm down for a few months.  We are in a sound financial position to withstand this loss.

 

Lastly, we grow our own chickens.   We are the farmers, and we stand behind our brand name.  We are not intermediaries who buy from a few nameless farmers or contract out to other farmers.   Every chicken that leaves our farm has been individually checked.  We know the condition of each individual chicken.

 

Please rest assured that we are a responsible farmer and we will always act responsibly.