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Feed for Chickens

1. Watermelon rind

Researchers at UP Los Baños fed watermelon rind to chickens for 6 months. These were compared to chicken given ordinary commercial feed. They observed that commercial feeds can be replaced with watermelon rind up to 20%.

Method:

a. Boil the rind until cooked
b Dry in the sun
c. Grind and mix with ordinary feed

Source: Phil Farmers’ Journal Nov 1981

2. Sunflower Seeds

Researchers in India tried feeding 18% up to 26% protein (from the resulting cakes after oil has been extracted from the sunflower seeds) to growing chickens aging up to 70 days. These grew faster and consumed more feeds than those not given sunflower cakes.

They also observed that feeding the chickens with seed coats did not cause any harm.

Source: Phil Farmers’ Journal March 1981

3. Tobacco Seeds

In places where tobacco is widely planted, farmers know that every plant can yield about 30 grams. To save on feeds, researchers tried replacing 20% of the feeds with tobacco seeds. Nothing adverse was observed in the chicken, neither in taste nor in shape.

Tobacco seeds contain: 20% protein (38% if newly harvested), 15% crude fiber and 4% carbohydrates

Source: PCARRD Monitor June 1989

4. Banana Leaves

According to researchers in Southern Mindanao Agricultural Research in Kabacan, North Cotabato, broilers fed with 5% chopped banana leaves gained weight almost 1-1/2 kilos more than those fed with commercial starter mash ration or with 10% added banana leaves.

Source: Phil Farmers’ Journal June 1982

5. Banana Peels

Method:

1. Chop fine raw saba peels
2. Boil for one hour, drain and cool
3. For every kilo of dried banana peel, add:
4. 150 gms dried chicken manure
5. 100 gms rice bran (darak)
6. Mix well and dry in the sun
7. Pulverize further up to about 1 mm sieve

This can be mixed up to 15% commercial broiler starter mash and finisher mash.

Example:
850 gm commercial mash
150 gm banana peel and added mixture
1 kilo

For broiler feed, ration diet is starter mash from day 1 to day 42, and finisher mash from 42-49 days.

Chickens fed 25% with this in 56 days made no difference in weight with those fed with 100% corn.

Source: Completed R&D Projects (ISN 297) STII-DOST

6. Rabbit Manure

According to British Poultry Science Report (1981), for every kilo of broiler feed, 100- 200 gm dried rabbit manure can be added. Dried rabbit manure according to their research, contains 18.8% raw protein, 9% water, and 19.9% MJ energy in every kilo.

7. Seaweeds

Two kinds of brown algae can be mixed with the chicken feed in the following way:

a) dry algae in the sun until dry
b) pulverize and add to the feed at 5% amount

Every kilo of algae is 20 gms powder that contains:

8.76% raw protein
7.76% raw fiber
36.67% ash and
46.26% free nitrogen extract

Every kilo of this contains 2,452 calories.

Source: Technological Information Pilot System AgriBo 62/1 May 25, 1989 Mexico

8. Water Lily

According to UPLB Researchers, water lily is rich in protein making it suitable as feed for chicken.

Procedure:

1. Pulverize (grind) water lily leaves
2. Mix the greenish paste-like substance with water and stir well to dissolve protein
3. Screen the mixture to separate fibers
4. Heat the liquid to 80^oC to coagulate protein components, dry and pulverize

The result is the water hyacinth leaf protein concentrate (WHLPC) which is an excellent substitute to ¼ soybean meals as feed for chicks aged 1-40 days-old.

WHLPC is also rich in calcium and potassium and contains 35% raw protein with 11% roughage.

WLHPC, although do not necessarily aid in growing chicks, it lessens the cost of feeding. It also lessens the risks of flooding due to clogging of waterlines as well as oxygen depletion in water bodies.

Source: Phil Farmers Journal, August 1980
Photo: small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com