by ERNESTO T. SOLIDUM
Most livestock projects like cattle and swine production need big capital outlay and enough know-how to succeed in commercial scale. Critical considerations are essential management aspects like selecting desired breeds, housing and fencing, feeding practices, pest and disease prevention, breeding and marketing. To a high school graduate like Ferdinand Qualiza, 28 of Pudiot, Tangalan, Aklan, this is a very tall order. He simply does not possess the technical skills and financial capability to undertake them. In hog raising for instance, 80 percent of the cost goes for feeds. Many have lost their shirts in cattle farming.
In 2003, Ferdinand then single and jobless thought of raising a small flock of Khaki Campbell ducks for the family food and to augment income. He fed them rice bran and corn grits while ducks foraged in a nearby creek for most of their protein and mineral requirements. Egg production was fairly good at 70 percent. It didn’t took long that natural food supply was depleted. Meanwhile his ducks rose to 100 layers while animal feed was critically low.
Ferdinand got married in 2006. His challenge was to prepare for the growing family needs. He thought of “pasturing” his ducks into newly harvested rice fields after seeking permission from farm owners. Of course, this required the services of a caretaker usually a teenager who is paid P1,500 a month. Substance allowance, makeshift shelter and plastic netting enclosure are provided by the business proprietor.
Ducks usually feed in groups relishing palay leftovers, insects, earthworm and golden apple snails. They are herded back to plastic enclosure late in the afternoon where they lay eggs the following day or before dawn.
Ferdinand says that 150 eggs could be produced by 200 layers or 75 percent efficiency. This is very significant since no supplemental feed or concentrate is used. Golden apple snails or kuhol provide the best substitute and considered one of the major rice pests in the Philippines. After an area is “cleared”, birds are transported in mass to another location by jeepney or specialized trailer attached to a trike. Priority is nearby municipalities where rice harvesting is done. In some cases they go as far as Mambusao, Capiz or Sibalom, Antique. “If my duck population increases to 700 I plan to have it taken to Mindoro where the rice cultivation is continuously done the whole year, said Qualiza, the enterprising poultry raiser.
Presently, Ferdinand has 1000 duck eggs inside his home-made incubator that will hatch in the next few days. A craftsman with practical know-how, he first designed and constructed a thermo chest incubator with 300 egg capacity. He said the batch of day old chicks are on purchased order priced at P60.00 each (female) and P30.00 (assorted) and will be picked up by the buyer. It takes 28 days to incubate the eggs artificially since egg type ducks don’t sit on their eggs. It is only the meat type or muscovy duck that does so.
Market demand for duck eggs and processed one – balut, penoy and salted are so high in Boracay that suppliers from Mindoro and Batangas unload several thousand eggs there daily. Ducks rank next to chicken in terms of eggs and meat production. Eighty six percent of our estimated 6 million ducks are raised in backyard farms while the rest is in commercial scale. Prof. Pelagio O. Olanday, Jr. of the University of Southern Mindanao said that annual growth rate of 2.4 percent is very low compared to other Asian countries like China, Bangladesh and Thailand. This is the reason why we have serious protein, vitamin and mineral deficiencies among children, pregnant and lactating mothers.
Poultry specialists recommend for duck egg production Mallard (native of Philippines), Khaki Campbell (England), Indian Runner (East Indies), Tsaiya (Taiwan) and Cherry Valley (Cherry Valley, England). Cherry Valley is a commercial hybrid duck that can lay 285 eggs a year with an egg weight of 7.6 grams.
Ready to lay breeders cost P250.00 each but buyers are assured of better health, early capital turnover and adaptability. For the first two weeks, ducklings are fed rice gruel (lugao) because of fragile digestive system. This is mixed with ground shrimps or dilis. Optimum temperature is maintained inside its brooder. Later commercial chick starter and growing mash are given until they attain sexual maturity in 5 months time. For normal egg production, ratio of male to female is 1:15. Unfertilized eggs result to penoy when incubated.
The youthful farmer now has three kids. He greatly enjoys the impact of the business to his life, family and community. With his wife, the daily net income of P700 from egg sales (150 eggs x P6.00 each equals P900.00 minus P200.00 for caretakers’ wages and subsistence) has allowed them to put up a semi-permanent double storey house, acquired electrical appliances and second hand multi-cab.
What is remarkable about this duck egg raising is the non allocation for feeds, housing, land rental, veterinary drugs or expensive equipment. It’s business operation is pared down to the barest essentials show an economic analysis unmatched as to return on investment. If geese lay golden eggs the best waterfowl is most likely ducks because it has brought culinary fame – the tasty balut Westerners considers exotic. /MP
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