FEEDING NATIVE CHICKENS THE NATURAL WAY (2): Carbohydrates Sources (Continuation)

Native or indigenous chickens are source of income and a main staple for the farm family and the main cost of producing them is feeding and the source of feeds. Farmers' experience and researches by agencies, both private and government, indicate that poultry can be fed an adequately nutritious diet by small farmers and their family using readily available sources and can be planted right at the farm or family lot.

Cassava:

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a root crop that originated in South America during the early Spanish era when seafarers brought with them stems of this plant for planting. It has now become another staple food and cooked into favorite snack items especially for low end vendors in Iloilo City. It is also important as a source of feeds for livestock and poultry.

Cassava contains about 3,100 kilo-calories per kilogram (kcal/kg.) of dried root or flour (corn contains about 3,400 kcal/kg) but has a low protein content of about 2.5% ((http://betuco.be/manioc) and is deficient in amino acids methionine, lysine and possibly tryptophan. A common small scale crop by farmers nationwide, cassava is usually planted not only for food but also as a source of animal feed especially during scarcity of feeds during summer or dry months. It is an excellent source of carbohydrates and can replace up to 50% of the total corn requirement.

However cassava leaves and stems contain high levels of protein. Local and international studies indicate that cassava leaves contain as much as 20% crude protein and is suitable for feeding to poultry especially when processed or cooked. Consumed also as a vegetable in other countries, it is palatable for poultry when cooked and added to compounded feeds.

There are many ways by which cassava may be fed to chickens. In commercial feeds, cassava is used in the form of flour or powdered dried pellets or chips. In small scale farms and in small family operations, cassava is often fed fresh or cooked and fed as a slurry mixed with other edibles like cassava leaves, sweet potato roots and leaves and protein sources like snails (kuhol and taklong or the African giant snails). Usually, cassava roots are peeled because the skin contains high concentrations of hydrocyanic acids which can cause instant death to livestock and poultry. Once peeled, the white tuber is then chopped to fine pieces and fed directly or sometimes added with chopped or grated coconut which is an excellent source of protein and fats. Often, cassava is also cooked together with snails and other ingredients to make it more digestible and much safer because cooking neutralizes the toxins found in trace amounts even in the tuber.

The addition of protein in the chicken feeds, whether dried or cooked, is essential to balancing the intake of amino acids and protein as cassava is low in this critical nutrient. In commercial feeds, free form amino acids like lysine, methionine and tryptophan are also added. However in home made rations, these amino acids may be found in fish and scrap meat which may be added to the cooked or even raw chicken feeds so that the chickens are provided with as much balanced feeds as possible.

A home made feed which can be cooked may be composed of up to 60% by volume of cassava, 20% of a protein source like snails, another 20% of a protein rich legume leaf and some other nutrients and vitamin sources like oyster shell. Rice bran and corn may also be added to increase palatability. This way, the nutrient profile of the ration may be as complete as that of the commercial ration.

Cassava is an ideal carbohydrates feed source in small scale chicken farming as it is easy to grow and maintain. Under normal soil conditions, cassava does not need to be fertilized. It blends well into the farm system and ecology of the small farm or even the family lot because it does not need much care and maintenance. It is also an excellent fence crop and acts as an effective yet edible barrier when it has grown for a few months. Its care and management needs is also basic and can already survive after the first three months if weeds are removed so that it can have adequate space and access to sunlight. When about one meter high, there will no longer be competition among the usual bushy weeds but may need to be kept free from vine species.

Most cassava varieties mature in eight to ten months where it can produce up to 40 metric tons per hectare. However there are varieties already developed that matures in just 5 months or so, producing as much as 60% of the yield of the more productive but longer gestation strains. These varieties or strains had been developed for food purposes and basically as a famine crop since farmers can time their harvest when other food and feed sources are scarce. There are also strains which are yellowish and are said to contain some amounts of betacarotene and may help supply this essential nutrient which is often critical especially in the development of a more yellowish egg yolk.

Gabi, Palawan or Dagmay:

Gabi, palawan or dagmay (Colocasia esculenta) is another indigenous feed source for native chickens. Though known mainly as a vegetable especially in ginataan (coconut milk) or in jams or jellies, gabi is rich in carbohydrates comparable to carbohydrate levels of sweet potato. However, it contains an irritant called calcium oxalate which is removed when cooked. The leaves are also a feed source for chickens when cooked and is rich in protein at about 18%. Palawan a larger strain of gabi has lesser amounts of calcium oxalate and can be cooked boiled or fried either as a snack item or as a main source of starch in human diets.

As a feed source for chickens, the tubers are usually harvested, chopped finely and cooked together with the leaves and also with other leaf sources of proteins such ipil-ipil (leucaena) and balunggay and meat sources such as snails, fish and meat. The usual ratio of gabi to other sources when cooked should be about 50% and other sources like leaves and rice bran may comprise the rest. The nutrient profile of the cooked gabi-based ration is also improved dramatically with the addition of coconut meat after the milk is extracted (sapal sang lubi) because of the high protein and fat content of coconut meat. This addition will result to a more balanced nutrient profile that would be a good feed alternative for growing chickens.

Gabi is an ideal side or minor crop in wet lowlands planted in deeper portions of the field not anymore suitable for rice planting. It can also be planted along dikes as a border crop for rice where it is easily accessible for harvest once needed. It is easily established using small plants and planted densely in distances of 40 to 50 centimeters. Usually taking 4-5 months, gabi can also be harvested early especially when feed sources become scarce. Some varieties also adopt to dryland planting like the palawan and will produce as much as cassava per plant and with the same ability to grow and produce tubers even without much care and management.

Many varieties are also resistant to pests and diseases that is why gabi is an ideal minor crop which can become a ready source of food and feed. Farmers regularly plant many types for home use and for sale as a cash crop. The major source of gabi found in the markets of Iloilo City is Janiuay and Lambunao where farmers plant this crop as another source of income.