Friday, February 26, 2010

Enjoy Better Eggs! article by: Cheryl Long for Mother earth news

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Have you ever thought of keeping a few chickens so you can enjoy farm-fresh eggs? Fresh eggs from birds that eat their natural diet of grass, grain and insects taste far better than the pale-yolked orbs sold in supermarkets.

Anyone can easily setup a small coop, but just be sure you choose a design that will keep the birds safe from predators and still allow them to forage on your lawn or meadow.

Recent research has revealed that eggs from free-range chickens (or from birds that are confined in outdoor pens but moved daily so they can forage on fresh grass) are far more nutritious than eggs from poultry confined in factory farms.

Mother Earth News tested four free-range flocks and found the free-range eggs had only half as much cholesterol as the USDA's official average levels in eggs. Plus, the free-range eggs had about 50% more Vitamin E and four times as much beta-carotene and Omega-3 fatty acids. (Several other studies have confirmed these remarkable results.)









Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Breeders at 11 weeks Robust and well recovered!

The Dominant Layer Breeders have recovered well from a minor respiratory incident. They are very hardy. Seen here are the females of Light Sussex, Rhode island red, Andalucian Blue and Barred Plymouth rock lines. In the background are the Condo Nest boxes that are being prepared for the breeding stage. I will be posting a series of pictures to show the colors and features of these lines in the succeeding blogs.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Fresh Clean water very important in Animal health care.


A very important, but usually neglected, part of poultry production is the availability of Fresh clean water. Our chickens can survive with fresh water alone as long as the containers are cleaned at least 3 times a day, the old stock must be replaced each time you clean the containers. Provide the birds easy access to water all the time. Measure the water consumption everyday. This is an indication whether you have obscure signs of diseases.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

A helpful article from Yahoo news!

Be of good heart: Happiness helps ward off cardiac disease

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AFP - Friday, February 19

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Members of a laughing club take part in an early morning laughter session in Agartala in 2003. People with a sunny outlook on life are less likely to develop heart disease than those who are less happy or outright glum, according to a study published on Thursday.

PARIS (AFP) - – People with a sunny outlook on life are less likely to develop heart disease than those who are less happy or outright glum, according to a study published on Thursday.

Its authors say it is the first investigation to give objective data to support the belief that high morale also helps a strong heart.

Publishing in the European Heart Journal, the Canadian team followed 1,739 men and women over 10 years who were enrolled in a health-monitoring project in Nova Scotia.

At the start of the study, trained nurses gave an assessment of the participants' risk of heart and disease.

Using both self-reporting and clinical assessment, the observers rated symptoms of depression, hostility and anxiety as well as "positive" counterparts -- joy, happiness, enthusiasm and contentment -- on a five-point scale.

Taking age, sex and cardiovascular risk factors into account, the researchers found that over the 10 years, "increased positive affect" lessened the risk of heart disease by 22 percent for each point on the scale.

"Participants with no positive affect were at a 22-percent higher risk of ischaemic heart disease (heart attack or angina) than those with a little positive affect, who were themselves at 22 percent higher risk than those with moderate positive affect," explained Karina Davidson, director of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, New York.

She added: "We also found that if someone who was usually positive had some depressive symptoms at the time of the survey, this did not affect their overall lower risk of heart disease."

The investigators offer up several theories to explain the phenomenon.

One is that people with "positive affect" may have longer periods of rest and relaxation and recover more quickly from stress.

They caution, though, that clinical trials are needed to explore the heart-happiness link before doctors can issue any recommendations on how to prevent cardiac disease by enhancing positive emotions.


Friday, February 19, 2010

Colorful Free-range Layers!


Superior F1 Certified Free-range Layer hens, very colorful, calm and robust! The future of Free-range layer production for Small Farmers is very promising with these very good lines of layers. The chicks will be available by the end of May 2010. For those farmers interested with the FREE manual for free-range layers, Just email me at freerangepoultry@yahoo.com Please indicate your contact number for validation.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Our Male Breeder Layers at 10 weeks of age

The Breeder Males of Superior F1 Layer Line at 10 weeks of age has recovered well from a minor respiratory problem. Part of the production of livestock, particularly poultry, is the occurrence of health issues. This can be minimized by preventive management and quick and accurate diagnosis. Always seek advices from veterinary specialists, always ask questions so you understand more. There are no perfect systems specially in livestock but there is always a scientific approach to minimize diseases. As they say " A stitch in time saves nine".

Friday, February 12, 2010

Free-range Chicken production in Vietnam

The ASVELIS company promotes free-range chicken production in Vietnam. They have newsletters on a quarterly basis. If you are interested to get the existing copies I have please send me an email or thru the comments section of this blogspot. The Great thing about it is that we learn from the experiences that our asian neighbors go thru, PLUS, it is for free! I have been sharing our experiences in the Philippines to our friends for 2 years already.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

PREDA (People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation) Joining hands with KASAMA KA ORGANIK KOOP and SUPERIOR F1



A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to give a short seminar for PREDA and KASAMA KA ORGANIK KOOP regarding the integration of free-range poultry farming in their respective areas and also the introduction of SUPERIOR F1 Layer chicks to their projects.
The seminar was attended by Mr. Alex Hermoso, Director of PREDA, Mr. Pablito Villegas and Doc Isagani Catedral Officers of KASAMA KA KOOP.
You can visit the website of PREDA at: http://www.preda.org/main/index.htm


Friday, February 5, 2010

Modern Poultry News

Greetings to all: I have decided to provide you at least once a month relevant poultry news. This is part of our continuing Institutional development. Please read on!


Antibiotic-resistant bacteria persist in chicken manure 10 Aug 2009

Large piles of aging chicken manure to be used as fertilizer on farm crops can house bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, finds a study from Johns Hopkins University.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria persist in chicken manure

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The results raise concern that typical storage conditions may fail to keep the microbes from reaching people through contaminated food or drinking water. Poultry manure is not required to be treated before it is applied to farm fields.

Poultry producers commonly use antibiotics to promote growth of the chickens. This can lead to bacteria in the chickens' digestive system becoming resistant to antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant bacteria are excreted and wind up in the manure – or poultry litter.

The poultry industry in the US produces an estimated 13-26 mln mt of manure each year. Much of the litter is used as a fertilizer. It is stored in huge piles until it is ready to be spread onto farm fields. Rich in nitrogen, it is also fed to beef cattle and farmed fish.

The study's researchers examined the survival and the antibiotic-resistance pattern of 2 different types of bacteria, staphylococci and enterococci, in chicken litter. These bacteria are found in the digestive systems of both chickens and people.

Although the bacteria numbers initially declined in the manure piles, some survived and increased in numbers again over the course of the 4-month survey.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found throughout the entire 4 months of monitoring. The resistant bacteria ranged from 0-69% of the total bacteria, depending on the strain and the type of antibiotic against which the bacteria were tested for resistance.

Composting may be a better choice than mere storage, suggest the authors*. Composting more effectively kills bacteria by controlling the storage environment so that high temperatures occur throughout – not just in the middle – of the entire pile.

Further studies will be needed to determine if the resistent bacteria in manure used as fertilizer can wind up in people or if improved storage/treatment methods are necessary.

* Jay P. Graham, Sean L. Evans, Lance B. Price and Ellen K. Silbergeld

Source: Environmental Health News

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Nice Photo of layer breeders at 58 days old....


I must say, that the top picture is very nice and artistic, good lighting, composition and framing.
But the surprising part of the picture is that my 6 year old daughter took the photo all by herself !
Just this morning, My youngest daughter tagged along with me to go to the breeder farm. I was very happy to have a good quality time with my Bunso. Especially when your kids are still young, you can still bring them along and they are just as happy to go with you. After taking my set of photos, she asked me if she can take pictures of the chickens, well without hesitation, (thank God for digital cameras, no need to buy expensive films) I told her to enjoy taking pictures of the Breeders. And I got surprised to see what pictures she took, they're better than mine!
Do you agree?