NATIVE CHICKEN PRODUCTION I

16-06-2009
Introduction
 Philippine native chicken is the common fowl found in
the backyards of most rural households.
 It is a mixture of different breeds and believed to have
descended from the domesticated red jungle fowl.
 It is estimated that 54.74% of the total chicken
population of the country are Native Chicken native
(UPLB, 2001) distributed as follows: Western Visayas,
13.32%; Southern Mindanao, 10.63%; Southern
Tagalog, 9.51%; Central Visayas, 10.36%; Cagayan
Valley, 9.29%.
 Native chickens are raised under the free- range
system of management. Under this system of
management, the chickens are allowed to forage
and look for their own food.
 The raising of native chickens is an integral part of
the farming systems of the Filipino farmers as they
are the main source of eggs and meat for
backyard farmers.
 Each household raise about five to 100 heads of
native chicken.
 Native chickens are well known for their adaptability to
local agro-climatic conditions, hardiness, ability to
utilize farm-by-products and resistance to diseases.
Moreover, they require minimal care, management and
inputs.
 Meat and eggs of native chickens are preferred by
many Filipinos over the same products from commercial
poultry because of their taste, leanness, pigmentation
and suitability to Filipino special dishes. Moreover,
native chicken meat and eggs are priced higher than
those coming from commercial poultry.
Organic farming
 Organic farms attempt to provide animals with
"natural" living conditions and feed
Ample, free-ranging outdoor access, for grazing and
exercise, is a distinctive feature, and crowding is
avoided
  Feed is also organically grown, and drugs, including
antibiotics, are not ordinarily used (and are prohibited
under organic regulatory regimes)
 Animal health and food quality are thus pursued in a
holistic "fresh air, exercise, and good food" approach.
Organic farming systems

 Biodynamic agriculture- method of organic

farming that treats farms as unified and individual
organisms( emphasizing balancing
the holistic development and interrelationship of the
soil, plants, animals as a self-nourishing system
without external inputs)
  Do Nothing Farming method- no fertilizer farming
 Biointensive- focuses on maximum yields from the
minimum area of land, while simultaneously
improving the soil
Background
 Zoologically, the native chicken belongs to the genus
Gallus of the family Phasianae. The domestic chicken is
simply called Gallus domesticus.
 The wild ancestors of the domestic chicken probably
originated in the South east Asia and four species of
these white jungle fowls are still known in the area.
There are: Gallus gallus, the red jungle fowl; Gallus
layette, the Ceylones jungle fowl; Gallus sonnerati, the
gray jungle fowl; and Gallus various, the black or
green jungle fown. However, the red jungle fowl has
the widest distribution of the wild species and may well
be
the chief ancestor of the modern breeds.
The Darag
 Darag is a general term used of the Philippine native
chicken strain indigenous to and most dominant in
Western Visayas. It evolve from the Red Jungle fowl.
 The male locally called labuyo has red wing and hackle
and black feathers and tail. The female, also called
Darag, is typically yellowish-brown.
 The comb is single, the earlobe is whitish and the shank
gray for both male and female. The
adult male weighs an average of 1.3 kg while the
female weighs an average of 1.0 kg.
The Stages of Development
 Mature Darag hens, called breeders, lay eggs.
 Eggs will hatch from 18-21 days
 Chicks go through brooding stage from the first
week to the twentieth day.
 From 21-45 days, chicks go through the
“hardening” stage. During hardening, chicks are
prepared for the rugged conditions of the
environment, thus improving the livability of chicks.
 “Hardened” chicks are then left to grow in the field.
 At age 75-120 days, the chickens are mature and
ready for slaughter.
Improved Management Practices
 Housing
-Provide the chickens with shelter made of bamboo,
scrap wood, wire mesh or net for their protection
against predators and the effects of the elements
of weather .
- Provide an adequate area of range for the birds

to have free access to natural food.

Selecting the Stock
- To raise productive chickens select hens that are healthy, broody and have
demonstrated good laying ability
- Use roosters that are aggressive, healthy and that come from flocks of fast
growers or high egg producers
- - The native rooster is ready for breeding at age 20-24 weeks.
- Keep just one rooster to a flock of 5-10 hens to produce the satisfactory
number of fertile eggs for hatching.
- - The native hen start laying eggs between 18-20 weeks of age.
- - Provide baskets covered with dried banana leaves, hay or sack to serve
as nests to layers. This will minimize egg breakage and ensure egg
cleanliness and safety from predators.
- - The native hen lay about 40-60 eggs/year under the traditional
management system, however, with improved management system and
better nutrition, native hens can lay 130-200 eggs/year, each weighing
about 50 g
Incubation
 - Incubate only sound eggs that are 40-50 g each, with
good ovoid shape and sound shell quality
 - Collect eggs and store them in a cool, dry place
 - Store hatching eggs for a maximum of 10 days under
normal room temperature. Storage beyond this period
will decrease the fertility of the eggs.
 - For natural incubation, set a batch of 10-12 eggs
under one hen. Small number of eggs from different
hens can be collected and set just under one broody
hen. This will prevent the onset of broodiness on the
other laying hens.
 - If a bigger number of eggs are to be hatched, use
incubators to artificially hatch them.
 Broodiness is the hen’s instinct to sit on the egg for incubation
and hatching. This contributes directly to low egg production.
Prevent the onset of broodiness by collecting eggs daily.
This will encourage the hen to lay more eggs.
 When incidences of broodiness are encountered, shorten
and break this period by either confining the broody hens
individually for 5 days in cages located in a well-lighted
and well-ventilated area or by submerging the hen in a pail
of water for 5 minutes before releasing it to the flock
Brooding
Natural method
 The traditional way of brooding allows the hen to

naturally nurture her chicks. The hen provides the

needed heat to the chicks from her body. Also the chicks
are allowed to tag along the hen to look for their food.
 When a hen hatched only a few eggs, put the newly

hatched chicks together with other newly hatched chicks

of another hen
 Encourage hens to resume laying eggs by separating

the newly hatched chicks from the hens. The native

chicks can then be artificially brood.
Artificial brooding
 House the newly hatched native chicks to protect them from predators and the
effects of weather extremes
 - Provide curtains made of old sacks, cloth or newspapers to the sides of the house
to regulate the brooding temperature
 - Roll the curtains up and down to maintain proper temperature and ventilation
 - Keep the chicks warm during the first month by using artificial brooders
 - Some common artificial brooders are:
 - kerosene lamps, with wire around them to prevent the chicks from getting too close
to the hot surface
 - electric bulb, as a rule 1 watt is good for a chick; therefore a 25-watt bulb is
good for approximately 25 chicks
 - During hot months, specially during the day, when no artificial source of heat is
necessary, the brooders should be removed or turned off
 - Observe the behavior of the chicks as this is a good indicator of brooding
temperature
 - Provide the chicks with local feeds or commercial chick feeds during brooding.
After a period of 3-4 weeks of artificial brooding, gradually allow the chicks to
forage and train them to look for their own food in the range.
Feeds and Feeding
 Proper nutrition is essential in keeping the birds healthy and productive.
 - Let the birds loose in the range to allow them access to natural feeds like
worms, grains, seeds, insects, greens and other sources
 - Give supplement feeds to the birds during summer months when feeds in
the range is scarse, and also during increment weather
 - Practice supplementation with high-energy feedstuffs like corn, palay and
grated coconut or farm-mixed formulations during these times. This will give
the chickens the energy source that they rarely find in the field.
 - The supplement feedstuffs can be made available in the house early
morning, before the birds are allowed to free range, and in the afternoon
to develop their homing instinct
 - Commercial feeds can be given, if local feeds are scarse and not
available, however, this is not economical because the native birds are not
as efficient as commercial poultry
 - Provide clean and fresh water to the birds everyday.
 - Bamboo poles split in half can be used as feeders and waterers.
 - Commercially available feeders and waterers can also be adapted.
Keep in mind the proper design and size of feeders to minimize feed
wastage.
Benefits
 Slowly, the value of native chicken has been
recognize. In addition to its common contribution in
the form of eggs and meat, as a source of
additional income to the rural farmers during lean
months of the year and as object for recreation in
the form of cockfighting. Many people in the urban
areas are now looking at the native chicken as a
source of nutritious food.
 City residents who lead a more sedentary life
prefer foods that are low in cholesterol. Their
preference is now shifting to the eggs coming from
native chicken which, being small, are also believed
to supply a small amount of cholesterol. Aside from
that, native birds and eggs are tastier and more
savory than the improved breeds. This explains
why, kilo for kilo, native poultry products are more
costly than those of the exotic breeds.
 In 1998, PCCARD finally characterized the Philippine native
chicken as the common backyard fowl, which is a mixture of
different breeds. They are small, active, sensitive and
capable of great flights when frightened. The hens are
fairly good sitters and mothers, but unlike the native cocks
that are being raised for cockfighting and fed with the best
feed and sheltered comfortably, the native hens are not
good in nests. At best, bamboo baskets covered with dry
grass of banana leaves placed under the housed hens to
serve as nests, and the trees that grow in premises serves as
their perches. Despite all these, a native chicken lays about
40-60 eggs in a year. However, recent findings showed that
when properly managed and fed with the right quality and
amount of feeds, tha native hen can produce as much as
130-200 eggs in a year.
 They also serve as cheap source of animal protein
through their meat and eggs. Although native
chickens grow at a slower rate and produce less
number of eggs than improved commercial breeds,
meat from native chickens are preferred by many
Filipinos because of taste, leanness, pigmentation
and sustainability for special dishes.