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[av_heading heading=’Popularity, profitability of native chicken’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY JULIO P. YAP JR.
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February 5, 2018
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THE meat of native chicken has been known for its taste, flavour, and texture – making the breed a good source of quality meat.
With these characteristics, the production of native chicken can be considered as an integral part of farming in the Philippines.
A program of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) has developed four native chicken strains in an effort to improve the profitability of native chicken for the rural farmers in Regions 5, 6, 7, and 9.
It primarily addresses two major challenges – unstable supply of slaughter native chickens and high mortality rate.
Researches under the Industry Strategic S&T Program (ISP) for Native Chicken have developed the breeding true-to-type populations and free range production protocols for four native chicken strains – Darag, Camarines, Boholano, and Zampen.
The protocols were supplemented with a Free Range Production Module to further enhance capacities of rural farmers on production and management.
The Livestock Research Division of PCAARRD says these four strains of native chicken are characterized with a more uniform physical appearance, predictable performance, and consistent product quality.
These new strains have improved average egg production performance from 100 to 120 eggs per hen per year.
The strains have also increased the number of slaughter native chicken from 20 to 55 heads per hen per year.
To address the problem on mortality, ethnobotanical anthelmintics were developed to control gastro-intestinal parasitism.
Moreover, local production of oil-emulsion Newcastle Disease (NCD) vaccine is also being pursued to control the annual NCD outbreaks that cause about 90 percent mortality in infected native chicken flocks.
With these science and technology(S&T) interventions, 11,579 heads of quality breeder, and 105,095 heads of slaughter Darag chickens have been produced in Region 6 alone.
Inspired by the success in Region 6, the program is currently being replicated in three other regions where the Camarines, Boholano, and Zampen native chicken strains are produced.
Gains from these interventions are expected to meet the increasing demand for native chickens in the country.
Other accomplishments under the program include the establishment of demographic profiles of native chicken raisers, traders, and consumers in Regions 5, 7, and 9 as well as the establishment of profitability analysis of breeder and slaughter native chicken production in Regions 5, 6, 7, and 9.
To promote native chicken improvement, production, and profitable utilization, policy briefs were also developed.
Private native chicken breeder farm partners in Regions 5, 6, 7, and 9 were established to ensure sustainability of breeding and production of quality breeder stocks.
Information on pricing and marketing as well as on current policy support systems was also generated under the program for native chicken producers and policy makers.
The program also addressed the high cost of commercial veterinary anthelmintic and its unavailability in the countryside.
Along with PCAARRD, the implementing agencies include Bicol University, West Visayas State University, Department of Agriculture-Ubay Stock Farm, Western Mindanao State University, and University of the Philippines Los Baños. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
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