By Manny Piñol
Basically, what stunted the growth of backyard free-range chicken raising is the fact that there is no distinct Philippine breed with consistent characteristics and appearance or what is known scientifically as genotype and phenotype.
Philippine native chicken are basically mongrels. They are very slow growers requiring 8 to 10 months before reaching one kilo in weight and poor egg layers producing only between 60 to 80 eggs a year.
That was when I thought of breeding a new strain of Philippine chicken which would grow faster, lay more eggs and most of all, would be resilient to local climatic diseases and resistant to common poultry diseases.
Using as base blood the iconic Aseel which were brought in by Islamic missionaries in the 14th Century and bred by Muslim tribes in the Southern Philippines and cross-breeding this with prolific brown egg layers, I was able to develop a strain which I called Manok Pinoy.
The Manok Pinoy grows to at least 1 kilo in the free-range in 3 to 4 months and the hens lay between 160 to 180 brown eggs every year.
I allowed my cousin, Neri Sodusta who is also my neighbour in the farm in Kidapawan City, to raise 140 hens with the agreement that I would buy the eggs he produced.
While other farmers suffered from the effects of El Niño, the Manok Pinoy hens regularly produced eggs for Neri allowing him to buy a brand new motorcycle.
It was then when I decided to produce more breeding materials because I believe that by raising Manok Pinoy in the backyard, poor Filipino families would be lifted out of poverty.
Recently, I read a story which confirmed my belief that raising chicken in the backyard is an effective strategy to fight rural poverty.
No less than billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates have started a project to address rural poverty in Africa.
Here is a Reuters report on the Gates couple’s new advocacy:
“Bill Gates is launching his latest scheme to help sub-Saharan Africans living in extreme poverty: he’s giving them chickens.
“Gates will donate 100,000 birds vaccinated against common diseases under a program he said would boost incomes because chickens are inexpensive to care for, a good investment and help provide nutrition for children.
“If I were living in extreme poverty, I’d want to raise chickens,” the Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist said on his Twitter feed on Thursday.
“Gates said a farmer starting with five hens could earn $1,000 a year, compared with the extreme poverty line of $700 a year. Eventually Gates wants to help 30 percent of rural African families raise chickens, up from 5 percent now.
“Gates’ wife Melinda, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said breeding chickens can also empower women by giving them a source of income, which they are more likely than men to spend on education and healthcare.”
I am further inspired by Bill Gates’ example.
Although I could not possibly give out my Manok Pinoy for free for very obvious reasons that I am not as rich like Bill Gates, I believe that by next year, the country’s anti-poverty program would be boosted by the lowly chicken which I bred in my farm in Kidapawan City.
I thank God for leading me in developing this new strain of Philippine chicken and making me as an instrument to help the poorest of the poor in my country.
(First two photos downloaded from Reuter files show Bill Gates and a farmer holding a chick. Third photo shows me and my brother, Kidapawan City Vice Mayor Jun Piñol holding two Manok Pinoy broodstags and fourth photo shows me holding a black and red Manok Pinoy pullet.)
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