Philippine Poultry’s Newest Member MANOK PiNOY: THE ICONIC IMAGE

By Manny Pinol

When we talk of chicken breeds, we always think of the iconic image which represents them.

The Italian White Leghorns have white feathers, predominantly straight-combed and yellow or white legged.

The New Hampshire is light red to almost orange in feathers, straight-combed and yellow legged.

The Rhode Island is dark red to almost brown, straight-combed and yellow or white legged.

The Plymouth Barred Rock has light black color with white bars, straight-combed and yellow or white legged.

The Oriental Aseel comes in a variety of colors but predominantly black and red, peacombed and light-legged.

Unfortunately for us, the Philippine native chicken has no iconic image to represent it except for the general description that it has firm meat with long muscle strands and raised in the range.

Wikipedia lists several Philippine native chicken breed among which are the “Paraoakan” and “Jolo” of Mindanao, the Camarines of Bicol, the “Bisaya” and “Darag” of the Visayas and the “Labuyo” of Luzon.

It, however, failed to mention the “Balulang” of Batangas and other unlisted indigenous breeds.

In general, the Philippine backyard chicken which we call “native” is actually a mongrel which is a product of unprogrammed and unguided cross breeding of the indigenous chicken with foreign bloods like the Cantonese, the New Hampshire, the Rhode Islands, the Leghorns, which were brought in by the Americans before and after World War II, and lately, even the Sassoo and the Kabir.

As a result, the image of the Philippine native chicken comes in varied colors, different comb types and non-uniform body structure.

So, what is the iconic image of the new strain of backyard chicken which was bred and developed in the Braveheart Farm of Kidapawan City, North Cotabato?

The Manok PiNoy, as this new strain is named, is predominantly peacombed and comes in two colors, black and dark to light red with a few spangled every now and then, and yellow or black legged.

The pullets, which are predominantly black-feathered, start laying eggs at 6 months old reaching the height of egg productivity from 1 year old up to 3 years old yielding between 180 to 220 eggs in one year.

They reach slaughter weight of 700 to 800 grams in 75 days in the free range fed with natural feeds consisting of locally available grains. They are natural grass eaters.

In 90 days, the cockerels cross the 1.2 kilo threshold while the pullets would be between 800 to 1 kilo.

At 6 months, the cockerels would weigh over 2 kilos while the pullets would be between 1 to 1.2 kilos. When fully matured, the roosters could weigh up to 2.5 kilos and the hens up to 2 kilos.

The hens are not broody and could continuously lay eggs for 3 to 4 months before they show indications of broodiness.

Allowed to set and hatch the eggs, Manok PiNoy hens have shown good mothering characteristics caring for their chicks until they are over a month old.

When slaughtered for meat, the Manok PiNoy’s meat is firm with long muscle strands very much like the so-called Philippine native chicken with a marked improvement on the amount of flesh that this new chicken strain carries.

This is the general description of Manok PiNoy as it is bred today.

I personally bred and developed Manok PiNoy into what it is today in a painstaking process since 2010 and I can proudly declare that I have successfully developed a new strain of Philippine backyard chicken which I believe could help improve the country’s backyard poultry industry and benefit the farmers nationwide.

As we move along and succeed in consolidating the gene pool, I expect to develop a Manok PiNoy with a consistently robust body but adhering faithfully to the firm meat and long muscle strands standards which the Filipino chicken lovers prefer.

There are no available breeding materials for sale of now because I am targeting a 5,000-hen level farm operation because of the current demand.

A few years from now, this breed will be shared with other farmers in the country.

(Photo caption: This is a 7-month-old Manok PiNoy stag. Hatched Aug. 10, 2013, he represents the new stain of backyard poultry raised in the free-range which could be bred and produced in volume with at least 300 hens now of breeding age and many more pullets coming of age. Photo taken Feb. 26, 2014.)