KALINGA, May 19, 2022 – With the Department of Agriculture’s call for stricter measures to control and contain bird flu in the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program, in cooperation with the Tabuk City – Office for City Agricultural Services (OCAS), steered activities to ensure that incoming poultry interventions and project sites are clear of Avian Influenza (AI) H5N1 or bird flu.

Members of the Makilo Farmers Association (MakiFA) in Sitio Makilo, Calaccad, Tabuk City are set to receive chicken stocks free of bird flu worth Php 550,000 from the program for their Communal Chicken Table Egg Production sub-project.

MakiFA is composed of 50 indigenous Ga’dang subtribe members of Kalinga who are engaged in corn and rice farming as a source of food and income, aside from backyard duck and chicken raising to help sustain their living.

Before the delivery of layer chicken

To ensure a ready and bio-secure poultry farm before the delivery of their layer stocks, SAAD Kalinga, headed by Agricultural Program Coordinating Officer (APCO) Mr. Balag-ey Claver, conducted a pre-inspection of the poultry housing facility which MakiFA started to build this year at a 400 square meter (sqm) – poultry housing facility of the project.

Mr. Claver reiterated the earlier instruction of DA- Cordillera Administrative Region Field Office (DA-CAR-FO) Regional Executive Director Cameron Odsey for all poultry farm beneficiaries to strictly practice biosecurity measures in their poultry farms to prevent a possible infection from future chicken stocks.

Towards bird flu-free poultry production

Bird flu outbreaks were confirmed in Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, and Camarines Sur while new reported suspected cases were also present in Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Tarlac, Sultan Kudarat, and Benguet, prompting caution in bringing in poultry products and by-products that can affect the poultry industry.

Through the Executive Order No. 22 Series of 2022 by Governor Ferdinand Tubban, a temporary ban of live poultry, poultry products, and its by-products and requiring a stricter set of requirements for entry of poultry animals coming from other areas is implemented as a measure to prevent the possible spread of the virus.

Biosecurity, hygiene, and sanitation were also called to be strengthened which the program and the LGUs had implemented to further safeguard the poultry stocks in the province.

In Sitio Makilo, a poultry disease incidence investigation was conducted by the OCAS headed by Tabuk City Veterinarian Dr. Carmen Wanas following reports of some backyard ducks and chickens that were reportedly dying.

Samples were collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis that was eventually found to be negative, allowing the delivery of the vaccinated ready-to-lay chicken intervention in the coming weeks.

About the project

The group received 20 bags of grower feeds, 40 bags of layer chicken, 20 units of poultry layer cages, 10 pcs egg crates, 2 pcs preformatted plastic egg trays, 20 bundles of cartoon egg, trays, 4 units of egg grader, 2 pcs antibiotic-vitamins, 2 laminated sacks, 4 plastic drums, 2 rolls HDPE pipes, 10 mats PVC coated tarpaulins,  10 rolls polynet, 10 gallons disinfectant, 10 packs electrolyte, 10 bottles multivitamins, 500 rambutan seedlings, 500 lanzones seedlings, and 105 packs each of pechay, patola, squash, and eggplant seeds with the 1000 RTL Dekalb Brown chicken stocks left to be delivered. Stocks are set to come from Itogon, Benguet where there are no reported cases.

The program aims to augment the beneficiaries’ income from their egg and vegetable produce in the coming months and provide locally available egg supply in Makilo and nearby areas. ###

Writer: Sheena Phine P. Dayagon, Information Officer I – Kalinga