BAYUGAN CITY, Agusan del Sur – Thirty farmers from Bayugan City underwent the Training on Native Chicken Production from September 12-14, 2018 at the AMIGO Farm in Brgy. Salvacion this city.

Healthy and delicious native chicken has become a growing enterprise in the local poultry industry. It was estimated in 2005 that the local chicken population in the country was at 136 million. Sixty percent of these are native chickens.

Many of the participants in the training say they prefer to raise the native fowls because they are considered “self supporting”. Majority of their feed requirements are obtained in their surroundings. They just wander freely and scavenge for most of their food. As a result, farmers can save more money due to its very minimal production cost compared to raising commercial chicken which is costly and injected with synthetic drugs which may have adverse effect on humans.

According to Michael Gonzales, one of the training participants, he was impressed on the training due to economic and health reasons. “I learned that growing free range chicken through organic approach is better, safer and healthier to our life.“ He also commended the resource speakers who were knowledgeable and able to connect well with the audience.

The training was in collaboration with AMIGO, an Extension Service Provider of ATI. The said activity was composed of several lectures given by experts in the field of organic agriculture, hands-on activities that complement their learnings regarding organic concoction and feed mixing. Participants also learned the different techniques in organic feeds and feeding of chicken. They had farm tour regarding poultry beddings and housing in AMIGO, and farm visit at HABI Farm in Bayugan City where they tried vaccination of chicks and observed the program and technologies used to the chicken. Most importantly, all participants each received one packet of chicken as an after-training support from ATI.