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.