MOUNTAIN PROVINCE, JUNE 25, 2021 – Brown egg producers in Barangay Leseb in Bauko, Mountain Province found added income by raising chickens in their backyards, bankrolled by the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA–SAAD) Program.

Leseb Community Farmers’ Association (LCFA) chairperson Efren Gaqui said that despite the minimal sale of eggs, the venture became advantageous to the community with a daily supply of fresh eggs enjoyed by families.

“Sa production, maliit ang volume kaya di kalakihan pero meron naman. Mas ang napupunta dun sa family consumption kung saan napupunan ang pangangailangan ng bawat pamilya sa fresh na nasa bakuran lang kaya ‘di na kinakailangang bumili pa,” he claimed.

[In terms of production, we can sell some with a few heads that we each have. But it’s more the fresh eggs readily available for our family’s consumption without having to buy in the stores, he said.]

From the project, residents now have access to fresh eggs and vegetables. The beneficiaries also gained income for the family which helped them survive the pandemic.

About LCFA

LCFA was established in September 2019 with 125 members and was given the Brown Egg and Vegetable Production Project worth Php 4,871,000 apportioning Php 30,960 grant for each beneficiary.

In 2020, additional stocks were given such as biologics and feeds to level up their brown egg production and lead them to operate a small community-based enterprise in the future.

Members also engage in the production of highland vegetables with Chinese cabbage, garden peas, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage in a 15 hectare (ha) production area.

They are now into a larger scale of production for the market and home consumption through the SAAD assistance.

The Dekalb Brown Chicken

DeKalb Brown Chicken is the most popular breed in cage-free egg production producing brown eggs (Braganza, 2020).

The hen’s environment can have a major impact. For example, eggs from hens that are allowed to roam in the sunshine contain 3-4 times the amount of vitamin D in eggs from a conventionally raised hen (Jones, 2017).

Moreover, DeKalb chicken can be fed with greens such as sayote leaves, sayote, and other edible greens available in the locality.

Project implementation

The LCFA is bound to receive a total of 3,667 heads of 16-week-old free-range chicken, where 1,262 heads have been initially delivered, along with two sacks of poultry starter feeds, two sacks of poultry grower feeds, four sacks of poultry layer feeds, a roll of cyclone wires, corrugated GI sheet, plastic egg trays, plastic crates, and various vegetable seeds.

Table 1. Leseb Project Interventions

Each member has an average collection of 20 eggs per day since their stocks [delivered August 2019] started laying around January 2020. ###

Writer: Dinah D. Ay-yango

Sources: People’s Organizations/FCA, Mountain Province Local Government Unit

 

References:

 

Lauro Braganza. October 12, 2020.What is DeKalb Chicken.

Retrieved from: https://freerangeph.com/what-is-dekalb-chicken?

 

Taylor Jones.March 7, 2017.white-vs-brown-eggs

Retrieved from: https://healthline.com/nutrition/white-vs-brown-eggs