I, Farm Boy! Breeding ‘Manok Pinoy,’ An 11-Year Work of Love

When I am in the farm, I make sure that I do the rounds every morning to check on the chicken that I raised, the fruit trees which I planted and the goats that I bred.
Nothing makes me prouder than seeing a flock of free-range chicken, now known as the ‘Manok Pinoy,” which had been developed into a new strain and registered with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
“Manok Pinoy,” which I developed as a distinct free-range chicken strain, is a product of an “experimental breeding” in 2010 when a friend in the U.S. sent me 30 young hens without roosters.
At about that time, a Maguindanao friend (who was later slain), Datu Musim Mamintal and his son, Jazim, brought me several roosters of the local breed called Parawakan.
The Parawakans, some of which weigh as much as 5 kilos, were believed to be progenies of the Asils which were brought by Islamic missionaries to the Southern Philippines in the 14th Century.
They are huge but they are stingy egglayers.
When I crossed the Parawakans with the Western prolific egg-laying breeds, they produced offsprings which were well-bodied, ideal as meat source, and fairly good layers.
Out of that discovery, I perpetuated that genetic mix and produced what is now known as the “Manok Pinoy.”
Today, “Manok Pinoy” breeders are sought by many backyard chicken breeders because they taste better than the native chicken and they carry more meat in their round bodies.
This is my modest contribution to Philippine Agriculture and Exhibit A in proving that I am a real farmer.
#ManokPinoy!
#FarmIsBestClassroom!