Breeder with MIDAS TOUCH

Naveed Qureshi’s insights into behavioural patterns of fowls has earned him recognition in poultry expos

For him happiness is a fluffy pet chicken. Bundles of love wrapped in colourful plumage. Building a house may give one great satisfaction but he draws pleasure in making coops for his pets. That's Naveed Qureshi for you.

He suffers from what they call the Obsessive Chicken Disorder. From being just a hobby, the passion for chicks has become the be all and end all of his life. Imagine somebody spending nearly six hours a day nurturing pets. Naveed does just that. He is nuts about the fowls and loves to watch them play more than the idiot box.

An exotic poultry breeder, his house in Paramount Colony, Toli Chowki, is home to 400 birds. And all of them are ornamental and fancy chickens. They include Cornish (England), Modern English Game, Japanese Bantam, Silver Campine (Belgium), Spitzhauben (Germany), Silkie-Bearded White, Frizzle Bantam, Polish Owl Face Buff and Serama Bantam (Malaysian). He also has parrots, pigeons and Persian cats. Naveed now plans to open an exclusive swan park in Hyderabad. A little prodding and he plunges into the history of domesticated species - ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, partridges, peafowl, pheasants, quails.

"The genealogy of the domesticated chicken stretches back to 7000 to 10,000 years. Red Jungle Fowl is the chicken's wild progenitor", he says fondling the cute feathery creatures.

Initially he collected fancy birds from all over the country at fancy prices. But of late he started concentrating on breeding a new exotic variety - Naked Neck Polish. It is called so as it has no feathers on its neck. It has taken him nearly a decade to obtain this unique variety by mixing the Polish breed with the Indian Naked Neck. He didn't stop at that but strove to achieve different colours - white, black, grey, golden, silver and multi colour. These birds sport v-shaped red comb, white and red mixed ear lobes. Now it is a subject of poultry research at the state and national level.

"Naked Neck Polish is Telangana's gift to the world and I am now in the process of getting it registered with the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources", says Naveed. He is all praise for Dr. D. Venkateshwar, Director, Animal Husbandry, for the support.

Love for the pets runs into his genes. Even as a child, Naveed was fond of birds and collected a variety of species. Of course he used to get an earful from his mother whenever the birds created filth. "Without pets the house will be clean but my heart empty", Naveed remarks.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. This may be a sound advice. But Naveed takes it with a pinch of salt. He has a way with the fowls thanks to years of exposure to their fascinating world. His knowledge of the breed character, production, performance and egg quality parameters has won him accolades in the poultry expos. Naveed can read the behaviour of the birds. "I know what they want to tell just looking at the angle of head and body and their postural changes", he says.

Would he like to sell his collection? "No, never", remarks Naveed for whom the chicks are the visible soul of his house.

Pets sure are humanizing. They remind one about the responsibility and obligation to preserve, nurture and care.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The Hindu

Dated April 26,2018