Former Cuban schools converted into poultry farms

The Cuban regime recognized this Tuesday that there are many schools in ruins in the country, some of which will be converted into poultry farms for egg production.

An article in the official newspaperGranma reported that the project will begin in the Pinar del Río province, where work is already underway to convert two of the old schools in the countryside into farms.

"This is an experiment, with the purpose of validating the relevance of taking advantage of these constructions that abound throughout the country, for egg production," said Pedro Luis Pino, logistics director of the Poultry Company of that territory.

The manager said that the idea arose after Hurricane Ian destroyed more than 40% of the buildings used to raise chickens in the province. He reiterated that the large number of these schools remain underutilized.

Heformer high school In the Lázaro Acosta Paulín field, located near the town of Briones Montoto, it will be used for quail breeding and should accommodate some 120,000 birds that in theory will provide 24.2 million eggs annually, he explained.

Breeding will take place on the ground, on a layer of rice husk, on the three floors where the teaching area and the four bedrooms used to be.

The second location will be the former Oscar Sánchez Ozuna high school, where 53,900 laying hens will be cared for in cages, similar to traditional farms.

These should provide 10.2 million eggs, estimated Pino, who defended that these solid constructions are much more resistant to weather events than traditional farms, whose structures are aging and have very light covers.

He pointed out, however, that specialists will have to confirm in practice whether the birds adapt to this type of spaces with different levels, temperatures and incidence of wind than a traditional farm.

Hurricane Ian destroyed 133 poultry buildings of the 331 that existed in Pinar del Río, which is equivalent to 40.18%. Only 92 of them have been recovered, and 91,242 square meters of roof had to be invested to make them functional.

In 2009, then-president Raúl Castro announced the gradual closure of schools in the countryside as part of his "economic rationality" program in the health and education sectors, as part of the adjustment measures that his government adopted to confront the international economic crisis.

It was recently learned that some educational institutions, such as the Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences of Villa Clara,have been destined for the construction of houses for people in vulnerable situations.

The Cuban regime has also resorted toraising semi-rustic chickens and quails in several areas of the country to make up for the shortage of eggs, in the context of the food crisis that Cuba is suffering.

It is believed that these birds are easier to feed due to the lack of industrial feed for raising other breeds. Rustic chickens are kept on alternative food and green grass and the quail is an animal that consumes less food and its production time is relatively short.