Native Chicken Production in the
Philippines
Native chicken production has long been a way for Filipinos to supplement their
income from other sources in the Philippines.
Native chickens originally roamed about as wild fowl and fed on what they could
find. The native Filipinos caught them for food and searched for their eggs. And,
chicken meat has always been a major ingredient in Philippine dishes.
So what’s involved in native chicken raising?
In the earliest of days, you simply kept a small flock and let them roam your yard or
field eating what they could find. You gathered eggs wherever they laid them and
butchered the meat you needed. If you had a rooster and a dozen hens, the breeding
process was assured.
Eggs left for hens to nest produced the baby chicks you need to continue your flock.
What eggs, meat and even chicks you didn’t need to sustain your family became
something you could barter for other things you needed. For fruit, vegetables, flour,
sugar, a new axe…
What are Native Chickens?
In its purest form, there is not much work involved in native chicken raising.
In the more remote areas of the Philippines, native chickens are still raised in
backyards. There may be a few of them or upwards to two dozen. They are free to
hunt and peck whatever grows or crawls about in that fenced backyard. In some areas,
they aren’t even fenced in. Shelter from the sun and from night-time predators is most
often provided. Eggs are usually laid in the morning to mid-afternoon. Egg collection
occurs daily after that unless eggs are needed earlier for family consumption or sale.
The average native chicken produces eggs only up to sixty days annually. So each
chicken may lay 150 to 200 eggs each year. Whether she has a good diet affects both
the number and quality of these eggs.
If they are being raised for meat, it takes between 74 and 125 days for them to reach
an ideal weight of two pounds (1 kg).
The original, wild native chickens were very nervous around people.
Crossbreeding has made them more comfortable around people. Some might now be
considered tame enough to be pets. But they will still peck aggressively if frightened
or angered.
Native chicken producers try to maintain the type of diet for their chickens that they
would get if they were foraging for themselves. Native chickens weigh in at one or
two kilos (2 to 5 pounds).
There are several breeds including Palawan, Basilian, Darag, Banaba, Iloilo,
Batangas, Camarines, Joloano, Bolinao, Paraoakan, and Pangasia breeds. Darag native
chickens are particularly popular. Each breed has its own meat flavor. Today’s native
chickens seem part wild fowl called Red Jungle Fowl, part domestic hybrid. It is
believed that the chickens which mated with the Red Jungle Fowl were brought to the
Philippines by European explorers.
Many of the native chickens in the Philippines are red with black tails and brown
hackles. Combs on healthy native chickens are red. Female native chickens are less
brilliant with yellowish brown feathers.
While native chickens are raised throughout the Philippines, the greatest concentration
is in Western Visayas.
The Philippines is not the only area to raise native chickens. In fact, this is becoming a
dying farm-form there. While other countries like Indonesia and Malaysia and
Thailand report growths of almost 20%, the Philippines native chicken industry
shrank by nearly 15% last year. Singapore, once also a high producer of native
chickens, reported a decrease of nearly 40%.
Numerically, this means that in 2015 the Philippines produced almost 180 million
birds. By the following year, this had dropped to 175 million and has steadily declined
since then.
Why are native chickens so popular?
In spite of the decline mentioned above, native chicken farming is here to stay. After
all, humans cannot do without chickens. And, nowhere is this more evident than in the
Philippines where chicken is a major source of protein.
