Confined to my farm as part of the 14-day Self Quarantine Protocol after my arrival from a trip to Kota Kinabalu, I was able to devise a way to still be able to do my tasks as a government official and contribute to food production as a farmer, as well.
In between issuing instructions through digital communications to the designated Officer-In-Charge of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), Undersecretary Janet Lopoz, and monitoring issues and concerns raised by citizens affected by the COVID-19 Lockdown in the MinDA Help Page, I also did farm work while keeping a safe distance between me and my farm workers.
I could not stay in the same house with my family because I have two young grandchildren whose well-being could be placed at risk.
Staying in the farm, I found time to conduct a selection of my future breeding roosters of Manok Pinoy, the free-range chicken breed which I have developed over the last 10 years.
The selection of a good breeding rooster is critical to a successful backyard poultry raising project because the rooster influences 65% of the genetic traits of the off-springs.
As a farmer, I do practical genetics by focusing mainly on the body conformation, growth rate and phenotypic characteristics like feather and leg color and the shape of the crown.
I also make sure that the roosters I select for breeding are not closely related to the hens that they will breed with, otherwise I will cause an inbreeding which would result in genetically inferior offsprings.
Yesterday morning, I was able to choose over 200 prospective breeding roosters which are 4 to 5 months old.
I only selected those which reached the weight of between 1.8 to over 2 kilos at that age because that is an indication that they are fast growers.
At 5 months, the cockerels are starting to run after the pullets while the pullets of the same age are now starting to lay peewee eggs.
In two more months, the cockerels will be full grown roosters while the pullets will be laying larger eggs.
The 200 cockerels will be enough to breed with 1,000 pullets with a ratio of 1 rooster to 5 hens.
By the end of the COVID-19 Lockdown and State of National Emergency when the country is faced with a shortage of food supply, this flock could produce at least 8,000 free-range meat chicken monthly.
So, doon sa mga nagrereklamo sa Lockdown, think positive.
There are so many things you could do at home or in the farm.
Magtanim ng gulay water the plants, clean the yard, read books or even write one and breed a lot, I mean chicken, ducks, goats and others.
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