1st PINES

Philippine International Eco Show, running from today until 29 August at the SMX Convention Center.

This is the first time CITEM and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) put together this kind of show that is for goods and services that are ecology, green friendly. Interesting exhibit. Construction, food, packaging, machineries, solar panels etc. The seminars are eye openers and interesting mix of information. Glad I chose a booth right beside the Activity Area.

Good exposure for the market we are focusing on :)

You like our look? Using handmade paper, I have to thank my friend Gigi Gonzales for taking time to think, travel, carry, tape and cut up those rays for me! She also conceptualized our eco friendly packaging of bayongs and pulp paper.

Corded Or Free Ranged?

Can you tell by looking at the photo, if corded gamefowls are easier to tend to?

I know images flashed in your minds now. For me, I will say gamefowls. They are corded, no running around, they have small feeders, they have a tiny house that isn't cleaned etc.

But then, I have experienced having a lot of both birds. Before we got into free range chickens, we had gamefowls just for the sake of having. Much like living paintings to ogle at in the farm. When they are free ranging, the time and effort is almost the same as Sunshine Chicken. Except that you have higher nets to be maintained around them. But when they reach the stag age and they have to be corded...looks like it will be easier huh?

For the corded gamefowls, each of them have cords on their leg, that is pegged to the ground. They have their own teepees as shelters (very costly even if you make it yourself in concrete, nipa, wood etc). Each of them will have their own feeder and waterer. You clean up all those waterers and feederrs. Have another set being used while a set is being cleaned up. Periodically bathe each of the birds individually (not as simple as spraying them with water). Bend to scoop feeds into their individual feeders and put water.

Sounds simple..if you have a few. But when you have a lot...that is different. You need a lot of farm help! In a gamefowl farm we went to last week, the farthest my eyes went to had a teepee numbered "1845"! There were more. Imagine how many help the farm needs to feed 1900 birds individually?

Conversion

How do you convert from a gamefowl farm to natural farming?

1) Unlearn old practices :)

2) Let several areas rest and recuperate from all the chemicals it had been exposed to. Let the Sun do its work and allow it to bathe under the glorious Sun.

3) Bombard caretakers with info on natural farming, as they will have resistance in believing it after years of practice using antibiotics and chemicals.

4) Let caretakers attend a seminar, as brooding a hundred is different from brooding a thousand. More so, artificial brooding as far different than natural brooding.

5) Do with what you have and use present structures. Individual brooding pens may be enclosed as one. An elevated flooring may be used. Have several doors for easier cleaning, feeding etc. Don't destroy the concrete bases, as they may serve as vermi areas that will be rich from chicken manure.

Now if we have to add buildings, then the new structures will follow better designs.

6) The housing/brooding area may open up to the former cording areas, that will now be used as ranging areas. The teepees are natural shelters..or we may use the teepees as low walling for housing. You may also have low shelters with nipa or tarpaulin roofing with the trees as base. With all the trees around, you may tie the net around them for ranging area fences.

There will always be ways. No need to throw away things.

Sunshine Chicken in Couscous

Green Daisy's owner, Daisy, was a gracious host to a group of natural farmers the other night. Daisy cooked a wonderful dinner, served buffet style, in honor of Jojie and Andry Lim.

I sent her pate, sausages and chickens to cook. She served the pate and sausages to other guests she had the previous night and they loved it. This time, she made Couscous using Sunshine Chicken... it was really good!

The natural farming boys in our group were debating if it was Arroz Valenciana....whatever you call it, it was deliciously flavorful. Actually, Daisy did a great job, as always.

If you want to see more of that night, see the photos posted to the Sunshine Chicken page in Facebook :)

Green Daisy is a restaurant that serves organic food. They have their won farm that produces their organic rice, vegetables and chickens. 20 Maginhawa St, UP Village. By appointment only.

Spread Of Sales

I will say that the 2nd most asked question is "Where is the market?".

This morning I get again one of the good follow up inquiries from the ones who read then ask. It went beyond the "where is the market" thing.

The text asked if the sales for the year was 100%, was the 50% on the last quarter? Oh yes, most consumer products' sales are in the months of October to December because of the Christmas season.

In my personal experience, it isn't the case. We get a good hold of the supply and demand all throughout the year because the market for the Sunshine Chicken is the conscious consumer. The one who watches their diet, wants tasteful chickens and studies value for money.

Sure the demand may go up for Christmas season, but this type of food gets set aside for time being during the festivities. So if the demand and sales doesn't go down, then we did something very good in terms of marketing.

I like stability...and see to it that marketing makes us grounded and constant all year round.

Fill Her Up

How do I use an auto feeder?

See the opening on top? That is where you put the feeds.

There are several sizes. The smallest auto feeder can accommodate 5kgs. The advantage of using auto feeders is that the Sunshines don't get to scratch , play nor poo in their feeds :) Plus the most convenience of care taking in absentia...they are guaranteed to have feeds even if you are not around.

For now, we do the auto feeders inside the pens, and on the range. On the range, they have the choice to go to forage or grains. More often than not, they want to forage. Look at the photo above, they prefer to go outside :)

Study Then Ask

For about one week now I had been getting calls from this lady who had been reading this blog extensively and had questions.

Her questions I like answering as it teaches us too. Questions that didn't cross my mind to tackle when I was writing about topics. I know that I had been writing for the neophyte poultry dummy, but then again, I am not tasked to go into specifics nor come up with business reports, so there are details that skip my dummy mind.

Types of queries:

1) How far are the distances for the water nipple drinkers? Good one! We were doing it in the farm, on site and drilling holes and fitting the nipples into the PVC pipes as we were seeing the chickens and their sizes around us.

2) How do you assemble the nipple drinkers? That I believe I discussed. But hey, it was still an intelligent question to ask :)

3) How do the auto feeders get filled up? I may have taken that for granted, maybe discussed it...but I will take it as needing a double take to understand.

4) etc....there were a lot of good calls this week

Why am I thankful for them? It makes me see the points I have taken for granted. I must rephrase to make myself clearer. Gives me new topics. On the other hand, this blog has educated and took their questions and minds to a different level.

Thankful also that most are now reading reading and reading, then question :) As we said, we don't mind spending time and effort on this blog and out of town seminars, but please help yourselves too....so much information here.

New Veterinarians

We are glad that Alexander Ian O. Madrilejo passed the recent exams for Veterinarians. Oh he not just passed...he made Top 10!

I watched the exam results closely, and it came out tonight. We were in touch since he requested to be referred to one of the Sunshine growers for specimens to be used for his thesis.

His thesis was on Preliminary Study on the Hematological and Serum Lipid Profile Values of SASSO Chickens (Gallus Domesticus) Raised Under Free Range Management.

Congratulations!

Liver Lover

Sounds like an ad!

Eversince I can remember, I loved livers, gizzards, intestines, eyes, brains...from fishes to bulls etc. Offal as it is termed.

Memories of Reno Liver Spread in hot pandesal...a tin for myself. As you get older the tastebuds mature so we go one step up to Pate...still liver spread :)

I was in search of one with character....a Pate that can stand on its own and it says "umpppphhhh!" back at you. Bought some recently and brought a tub to our meeting for Berdelicious. The trying hard foodies in us were taste testing and discussed with Chef Myke what I wanted.

He did come up with what I wanted using our Sunshine Chicken's. Chef Myke said the taste is distinctly more intense than that of the white broiler's liver and no fishy taste. He used pure liver, no use of pork fat nor extenders. Creamy on its own. Full bodied flavor. If there was a gender for Pate, this will definitely be masculine! Not at all glamorous, prim and proper type. Have a closer look...it is forkable and may be taken alone :)

Like Foie Gras? Try slicing some Pate and soft frying it.....very good and close to addicting!

NOW AVAILABLE! Just like our other products, our Pate is for the Pinoy tastebuds, no preservatives, no extenders. Great value for your protein health and money.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

One of the most memorable Hiananese Chicken Rice I have ever had was in Cebu. They were using our chickens and serving them in their restaurant. I thought it was so hard to make.

As we developed our Chinese clientele, they had been telling me that they had been making this dish now since they discovered where to get good and flavorful chickens. They had always sounded that it was so simple. Easier heard than done...I thought!

Then I came across this post....from one of my daily blog rolls. Connie Veneracion has a way of making things easier to understand and it goes step by step.

Try it...I know I will :)

You may even do this focused business and just be known for very good Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Stewed Out

One is sick, the other on a diet. Raining outside plus some last minute paperwork to do for deliveries....what to cook?

It was supposed to be vegetables, Pinakbet to be exact...but its not fit to serve the above given data. We need home cooked, rich soup...

Brought out a pack of my Italian Sausages and chunked them. All in low heat....Sauted some garlic in Olive Oil. Added the chunked sausages and let it simmer a while. Next went in a lot of chopped tomatoes and a handful of Basil. That was allowed to simmer...small soft bubbles, gurgling a little. Seasoned with a little salt. It was done when I realized there was no rice. Grabbed two handfuls of elbow macaroni and threw it in. Stirring for the next 10mins, turned off heat and covered...waiting for the table to be set.

I was starving at this point and reached for a large chunk of the sausage before I covered my skillet...it was so goooood! Our sausages are no doubt dry, because there is no fat, but stewing it rendered and blended the flavors and it made it juicy :) Excellent for a blast of an idea just before getting dinner ready.

Won't say that this was a recipe to die for....but it is very good, comforting and healthy food. Stewed out....or rather, stood out for our rained out heads.

Healthy Sisig

After our Sunshine Chicken Sausages, our clients are demanding more :)

Asked Chef Myke to develop some products for the Liver and Gizzard.

Healthy Sisig anyone? Took some from the freezer to heat and toast a bit in a non-stick electric skillet.

NOW AVAILABLE! Crunchy and with character, Chef Myke used the packs of Gizzard to develop this super Health Sisig. Chef Myke was saying that even with just salt and pepper, the Gizzard was already good, so he knew that spiking it with chillies etc, he was going to have a delicious product.

Our early contribution to Agri-P-Noy!

Air Conditioner

The big poultry buildings use large industrial fans, if they are not tunnel ventilated. That is to give air to the cramped up buildings.

In free range chicken raising, we want to make it comfortable for our chickens too. This size and type of fan is good to lower temperature and give good air circulation for housing and range alike. The rainy season may have started, but then it can get so humid. The fan blows out a very fine mist that cools the air.

AANI Plus

Good news!

During Agrilink 2010 in October, AANI will set up an outdoor, all day consultation tables for almost all aspects of agriculture (vermiculture, free range chicken, organic farming, aquaculture etc). Experts and agri entrepreneurs are the best sources of information. This move will make it flexible for those whose schedules are tight and can't make the scheduled seminars. Aside from the consultation tables, AANI will also schedule seminars in the frequently requested topics :)

We will post schedules here.

Our way of saying thank you for your support.

Casual

Today was the opening of AANI Harvest Festival. Very casual day for us as we knew friends will be there and the event was our homebase group :)

L-R: Pol Rubia, Gerry Manaoag, Pio Rodriguez, Zac Sarian, Doc Rey and Rene Almeda

There were new products and exciting exhibitors so I had fun meeting some people. Different vibes. You know it when its not about agendas :) I hope this new generation is in time to really make changes.

We also looked forward to the seeing again the new Department of Agriculture's Secretary Procy Alcala. This will be our first time to see him after he was named for DA.

We all had good laughs as he saw familiar faces and knew that the "hellos" had no strings attached :) See how honest laughters are!

Department of Agriculture Secretary Procy Alcala

Sinampalukang Manok

I didn't realize I haven't posted a recipe for Sinampalukang Manok. It is one of our favorites, but I may have forgotten as it is not cooked often. You need real fresh leaves and flowers to get that sweet sour taste that is comfort food for us. When I got a hat of the freshest young leaves and flowerettes....let me share how it was done.

Perfect timing that it was harvest day for our chickens too....

1 whole Sunshine Chicken :), say about 1.2 to 1.5kgsm, chopped
Cooking oil for sauteeing
1 head garlic, I use native ones, peeled, crushed
1 red onion, peeled, sliced
1 finger of yellow ginger, sliced and crushed
Fresh Buko Juice
Bagoong Balayan

A lot of fresh young Tamarind leaves and flowers

1) Put the peeled and crushed garlic with some cooking oil, I use Olive Oil, in a pan. Set the pan in very low heat. Yes, you have it all together. I don't heat the pan first and the oil before the garlic. Slowly let the garlic cook in low fire until it gets tan colored. Let the oil absorb the garlic's flavor.

2) Next the onion, add it to the tanned garlic. Let it slowly cook until it caramelizes. Allow the slow cooking, blend the flavors.

3) Add the yellow ginger to the garlic and onion. Still in low heat, slowly let the juices comes out of the ginger.

4) Next goes the chopped Sunshine Chicken :) Stir it to brown the pieces. Remember, still in low heat.

5) Season with Bagoon Balayan. You may use Patis or Fish Sauce, but I like the Bagoong Balayan more and it is somehow easier to temper and doesn't get over powering.

6) Add Buko Juice, enough to submerge the chickens.   Cover pot and let it slowly cook in low fire, until done.

7) You may season now to taste.

8) Drop the leaves and the flowers inside the pot. Mix so the the leaves are all submerged. Return cover of pot and turn off heat. The leaves will cook from the heat left.

Enjoy :)

Basyang Led Us Here

News of Basyang hitting Isabela made us decide to make a quick trip to the farm in Isabela. Not because of the ranging chickens, as they will surely be able to stand and fend for themselves. It was for the 100 fruit trees we just replanted in the new area being developed.

Yesterday, all was quiet here in Santiago....

The visit allowed us to eat freshly harvested fruits....the Santol was really good and sweet. I have to give it to freshness and chemical free farming :)

On the way out, we saw our Sampalok Tree. Doc Rey took out his hat and gathered our souring ingredient. Sinampalukang Manok is best when you use a lot of young leaves and flowers!

Time For Change?

I had been toying with some ideas...not quite sure if it is a GO or not....we'll see in the next days :) This post made me think I should GO and move.

This morning at the farm, I chanced upon a bedding change being done.

When do you change? Better than scientific 1 2 3, let your senses tell it is time:

1) When you enter the housing or when you clean up and feed, if you feel teary eyed...it is time for change.

2) When you pass the housing and there is a foul smell, it is time for change.

3) I doubt if you will taste it :)

How to change?

1) Some have a thick layer of beddings and they just turn over the layers every so often.

2) In this case, they gathered the used rice hull. They will shovel that into an empty sack. Lay a new layer of fresh rice hull. The used sacked ones may be used for your compost pile for organic fertilizer.

Dialogue With DA Sec Alcala

We were advised last night that DA Sec Procy Alacala had confirmed to attend AANI Harvest Festival opening on July 16 at 8am. Following will be a dialogue with Sec Alcala, that will be open for all.

Join us in this opportunity to meet our new DA Secretary! Open to all. No entrance fees.

AANI Harvest Festival
Quezon Memorial Circle (use Commonwealth gate)
July 16, 8am

File photo taken in 2008. Then Cong. Alcala was always open to discussions and consultations.

Height

Most cases, height is might. The taller, the better.

Not in the case of your heat source in your brooders.

Note the height of the bulbs in this photo:

This was taken during the day, but you can imagine that the chicks will be grouping together at night when the air is cold. That will result in climbing and jumping on top of one another to get closer to the source of heat and to get warmth from the other chicks. Don't smile thinking of a "group hug"! Detrimental to them. A lot will get trampled upon and result in death. Others will get so weak after all that pushing and fighting for space and heat.

Ideally, you have the bulbs at a height grazing their heads and backs. Have the wires around a bar, that you can raise or lower, as needed.

Remember that the best gauge are your eyes. Observe, observe and listen to cries. If they are cold, DO NOT wrap the cage to cut off the cold wind. ADD bulbs or lower the source of heat. They need fresh air circulation.

Just like people When we are cold, we don't close the windows totally, nor pull up the blankets to our heads. We can't breathe and will suffocate. We should have thicker clothing, but not cover face :)