INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Poultry raising has become a widespread business in the Philippines

nowadays. As this commerce became popular, many companies have formulated

chicken feeds that are sold for 30-40 Pesos per kilo. In the developing countries, the

demand for white meat keeps on increasing .The requirements for animal proteins are

related to the demographic growth. To satisfy this request, many farmers launched out

in intensive poultry farming. Previous researches have been made with the use of

natural and/or organic components and results showed that there is no significant

difference between the weight of the chickens feed with the experimental feed and

with the weight of the chickens fed with a commercial feed.

In this connection, the researchers would test if the components of the 5-in-1

natural chicken feed which are Ipil-Ipil, Sorghum, Copra, Duckweed and Chicken

Feathers can produce an effective feed for broiler chickens and can give a growth and

weight rate which can be comparable to some commercial feeds sold at the market.

B. Statement of the Problem

This research study aims to produce a natural and alternative chicken feed made

from natural ingredients such as Ipil-Ipil, Sorghum, Copra, Duckweed and Chicken

Feathers Purposely, the researchers aim to answer the following questions.

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1. Is the average weight of the Chickens fed with the 5-in-1 chicken feed

comparable with the average weight of the Chickens fed with the Commercial

Feed?

2. Is there a significant difference between the average weight of the Chickens

feed with the 5-in-1 Chicken feed and Commercial feed?

C. Statement of the Hypothesis

1. The average weight of the Chickens fed with the 5-in-1 chicken feed is

comparable with the average weight of the Chickens fed with the

Commercial Feed.

2. There is no significant difference between the average weightof the

Chickens feed with the 5-in-1 Chicken feed and Commercial feed.

D. Significance of the Study

This research study intends to use Ipil-Ipil, Sorghum, Copra, Duckweed and

Chicken Feathers in producing a chicken feed with the usage of natural ingredients.

Through this study, we, the researchers, seek to find out whether the combination of

natural ingredients such as Ipil-Ipil, Sorghum, Copra, Duckweed and Chicken

Feathers can produce an effective feed for broiler chickens. Also, we aim to find out

whether this 5-in-1 natural chicken feed can give a growth and weight rate which can

be comparable to some commercial feeds sold at the market.

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This study is a big help to poultry raisers, also with our economy, since making

this feed is really cheap since the ingredients that will be used is abundant in nature

and some, can be recycled. Also, since the feed is natural, it is a good source of

nutrients and minerals that will be of great help to raisers and to the chicken. With

raisers feeding their chickens with this natural feed, the chicken will have a lesser

intake of chemicals which was due to the feeds’ process of production.

E. Scope and Limitations

This study is only limited with the production of the 5-in-1 natural chicken

feed out of Ipil-Ipil, Sorghum, Copra, Duckweed and Chicken Feathers. It is also

limited only with the feeds’ quality, it biodegradability, and its expiration. The

independent variable of the study is the 5-in-1 Natural Chicken feed while the

dependent variables are the chickens under study for 38 days. Set up A will be

composed of Ipil-Ipil, Sorghum, Copra, Duckweed and Chicken Feathers while Set

up B will serve as the control of the study.

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F. Definition of Terms

Broiler chickens – a young tender chicken which is suitable for roasting

Fodder – an animal food like hay or straw

Livestock – animals raised for food or other products, or kept use, especially farm

animals such as meat, dairy cattle, pigs and poultry.

Poultry – domestic fowl in general like turkeys, ducks, geese or chickens

Rumen - the large first chamber of a ruminant animal's stomach in which

microorganisms break down plant cellulose before the food is returned to the mouth

as cud for additional chewing

Vacuum drying - heat is supplied by conduction or radiation (or microwaves) while

the vapor thus produced is removed by thevacuum system.

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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Broilers are chickens raised specifically for meat production. Modern commercial

broilers, for example, Cornish crosses or Cornish-Rocks, are specially bred for large

scale, efficient meat production and grow much faster than egg laying hens or traditional

dual purpose breeds. They are noted for having very fast growth rates, a high feed

conversion ratio, and low levels of activity. Broilers often reach a harvest weight of 4-5

pounds dressed in only five weeks.Broilers are sometimes reared on a grass range using a

method called pastured poultry, as developed by Joel Salatin and promoted by the

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association. Broiler chickens may develop several

health or welfare issues as a result of selective breeding. Broiler chickens are bred to be

very large to produce the most meat per animal.Therefore, they may become lame or

suffer from broken legs. The added weight also puts a strain on their hearts and lungs.

In an interview with Mr. MacarioAcejasJr, he said that the important part of

raising chickens is feeding - feeding makes up the major cost of production and good

nutrition is reflected in the bird's performance and its products. Access to clean water

must be given to the Chickens.

Duckweed

Major research efforts are needed to find ways by which duckweed can increase

egg and meat production from non-conventional diets as used by small farmers at the

village level. It appears that dried duckweed could be used very effectively with

scavenging poultry, particularly where grain is fed as a separate meal.Poultry have a

well-developed ability to select a balanced diet from individual resources made available

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to them, or by scavenging. The use of both energy supplements (e.g. spoilt grains) and

duckweed made available as separate components on poultry production needs

considerable research (Mastika& Cumming, 1985).Duckweed contains 30% to 50%

protein and can make up to 40% of a chicken’s diet, with 25% being optimal ----- that

means we’ll be paying 25% to 40% less for chicken feed. (“Duckweed as Chicken Feed,”

2010)Protein quality is the second characteristic on interest when evaluating a protein

source for animal feed. Protein quality or biologicalvalue is a reflection of how closely

the amino acid balance of totalprotein matches that needed by the animal. Typically,

plant proteins have lower biological value relative to those derived from animal sources.

Copra

Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it

has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing

countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.

Copra meal is often used as a protein source in the diets of fish (Kim et al,

2001). Copra is obtained from the kernel of coconut fruit, which have been sundried or

dried using drying machines. According to Swick (2000), the major producing countries

are the Philippines and Indonesia, which account for about two-thirds of the world’s total

production of 2.0 million metric tons in 1997.

Copra meal hasbeen reported to be qualitatively poor due to lowconcentrations of

several limiting amino acids, heat damageand high dietary fiber. These problems

haveattempted to be addressed by either carefullyformulating a diet to meet poultry

requirements,particularly amino acids, or by theinclusion of enzymes. They obtained

satisfactory growth of broilers by 25%copra meal diet with 0.5 % lysine.Nutritionally,

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copra dry matter contains 48% carbohydrate, 5% lignin, 21% protein and 5.7% lipid

(Sundu and Dingle, 2003)

Sorghum

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is an important staple food crop in Africa, South

Asia, and Central America, is the fifth major cereal crop in the world after wheat, rice,

maize and barley. It is also grown in the United States, Australia, and other developed

nations for animal feed. An annual grass that varies between 0.5 and 5.0 meters in height,

sorghum produces one or several tillers, which emerge initially from the base and later

from the stem nodes. The flower is a panicle, usually erect, but sometimes recurved to

form a goose neck.In 2004, global sorghum production stood at 58 million tons. It is

grown on 44 million ha in 99 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Major

producers are the USA, India, Nigeria, China, Mexico, Sudan and Argentina.In India,

sorghum is grown on 9.2M hectares. This represents 21% of the world's sorghum area.

Research indicates new varieties of grain sorghum compare favorably to corn for

most nutrient values. At Kansas State University, Kriegshauser, et al. (2006), compared

the proximate analysis of several varieties of sorghum to corn and found that sorghum

had higher values of protein as expected, while the energy or fat content of sorghum was

slightly lower than that of corn. The amino acid profile of the sorghums compared well to

corn, although the average lysine content of sorghum tested to be .26% versus corn

at .30%. The varieties of sorghum with improved nutrient composition also tested similar

to corn for the value in a broiler chick assay. The results of this work indicate that the

nutritional value of sorghum is similar to corn in many nutrient values. There are few

digestibility studies comparing modern grain sorghum varieties side by side to other

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cereal grains. Huang, et al. (2006) conducted a unique study to compare the apparent

ideal digestibility of sorghum to corn using broilers, layers, and mature leghorn roosters.

Crude protein digestibility of sorghum versus corn in all three classes of birds was similar

between the grain sources. However, the amino acid lysine and methionine were slightly

more digestible in the corn samples. This work indicates that although protein content

and digestibility may have improved recently, some of the amino acids still differ in

digestibility. Similar work using ideal digestibility tests with broilers found that the

digestibility of crude protein was higher for sorghum compared to corn (99 vs. 81%).

Digestibility of individual amino acids for corn and sorghum were similar for most

essential amino acids. Other work has concluded that grinding sorghum to small particle

size improves utilization. For broiler chicks, Healy, et al. (2003) demonstrated that

grinding sorghum to 500 to 700 m did improve gain.

Chicken Feathers

Chickens receive antibiotics in their food and water supplies, just as other farm

animals do. It is also known that some antibiotic residues persisted on chicken feathers.

Nachman (2005) found that besides antibiotic residues, a number of other chemicals were

also detected including acetaminophen (Tylenol), which can be used to treat fevers in

poultry just as it is for humans; diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in Benadryl),

which apparently is used for anxiety issues in poultry; and norgestimate, a sex hormone.

Any kind of health significance to these (either to people or to the animals who are

ingesting these via feather meal) is uncertain.

In a study of the effects of Feather Meal Feeding on the Body Weight and Feather

Development of Broilers by Guichard (2008) resulted that feather meal has a positive

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aspect on the weight of flight feather, body feather and fluffs, but does not significantly

affect the weight of main tail feathers.

In a previous study of Isika, Agiang and Eneji (2006) concluded that broiler offal

and broiler hydrolyzed feather meals complemented each other as alternative feed

ingredients in broiler nutrition using simple low-cost processing technologies. The liver,

spleen, heart kidney and gizzard were not significantly influenced by the combined effect

if the by-products.

Another study by Ochetim (1993) on the experiment of The Effects of Partial

replacement of soyabean meal with boiled feather meal on the performance of broiler

chickens showed that up to 3% of water-boiled feather meal, which represents 12%

dietary protein, the equivalent of 6% level of use of soyabean meal in the diet, can be

successfully included as a protein source in the diets of broiler chickens.

Ipil-ipil

Leucaenaleucocephala is a species of small Mimosoid tree that is native to

southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize andGuatemala) but now

naturalized throughout the tropics. Common names include White Leadtree, Jumbay,

and White Popinac. It is known as Subabool in India. L. leucocephala is used for a

variety of purposes, such as firewood, fiber and livestock fodder.

The legume is promoted in several countries of South-East Asia (at

least Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand), most importantly as a source of quality

animal feed, but also for residual use for firewood or charcoal production.The legume

provides an excellent source of high protein cattle fodder.

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Commercially Sold Chicken Feed

The nutrient value of feed ingredients for poultry will vary depending on the

species, variety or cultivar, the season, the source location, processing and storage

conditions and the class of poultry being fed. Different classes of poultry differ in their

ability to digest and absorb various nutrients, while the other factors will affect the

intrinsic nutrient value of the ingredient. (“Feed Ingredients,” 2010)

Ingredient Crude protein

(%)

Metabolisable energy

(kcal/kg)

Calcium(%)

Available phosphorous

(%)

Lysine(%)

Wheat 13.0 3153 0.05 0.20 0.5Sorghum   9.0 3263 0.02 0.15 0.3Barley 11.5 2795 0.10 0.20 0.4Poultry by-product meal

60.0 2950 3.50 2.10 3.4

Soybean meal 48.0 2557 0.20 0.37 3.2Feather meal 85.0 3016 0.20 0.75 1.7

Table 1.Nutrient Composition of Feed Ingredients

METHODOLOGY

A. Research Locale

This research study will be conducted at Samaco’s Residence in Lower

Cabatangan, Zamboanga City, Philippines.

B. Research Design

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The research design of the study will be a Complete Randomized Design or CRD.

The dependent variables in the study are the Chickens and the independent variable is the

5-in-1 natural chicken feed. There will be 2 Set-ups that will be compared in this study.

Setup 1 will be composed ofIpil-Ipil, Sorghum, Copra, Duckweed and Chicken Feathers.

Setup 2 is the commercialized Chicken feed and will serve as the control of the study.

C. General Procedure

Gathering of the materials

Twenty week-old Chickens will be purchased in one of the known business

establishments for Chickens in Zamboanga city. The chickens will be of the same weight,

age, gender and breed.The Ipil-Ipil legumes will be collected at Barangay Cabatangan

while the Sorghum will be collected at a nearby farm at Barangay San Roque. The

Chicken feathers will be gathered from a known business setting for Chickens. The copra

will be brought from the market while the duckweeds will be collected from nearby

ponds. In the duration of the experiment, a 50 watt bulb will be used as light and heat

source for the Chickens.

Production of the Chicken feed

5 kilograms of Alternative Chicken feed will be made. Two hundred fifty grams

of Duckweed, seven hundred fifty grams of copra, one thousand grams of Ipil-Ipil

legumes and two thousand fifty grams of sorghum will be collected. The latter will be

washed lightly and will be sundried for 2-3 hours to remove excess water. After sun

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drying, the components will be grinded, pounded and will be mixed in the blender.

Feathers once collected will be sorted out and soaked in a solution of 2% sodium

hypochlorite for 10 min to get rid of any impurity. They will be washed with tap water to

eliminate any trace of the chemical. Feathers will be boiled in 4% sodium sulfide and

alcohol (70°). The dissolved feathers will be then filtered to isolate the rest of the

feathers. The excess of chemical will be removed by washing with tap water. Feathers are

vacuum dried at 85°C for 48 hours and grinded to fine powder. This powder was

incorporated as a supplement in the feeding formulation.In the case that the alternative

Chicken feed won’t be enough for the chickens, the researchers will do the procedure all

again, with respect to the procedure given.

Construction of the Cage

The Chickens will be housed in a properly roofed cage. The enclosure will be

made from bamboo, plywood, and chicken wire. The dimension of the cage will be 1.87

x 2.4 x 1.6 meters. Equal area of the cage will be given to both of the setups. Enough

room will be provided to ensure proper ventilation.

Feeding of the Chickens

The two groups of chickens with approximately the same weight and age will be

subjected to two dietary treatments. Setup 1 will be fed with the 5-in-1 Alternative

Chicken feed. Setup 2 will be fed with the commercialized Chicken feed. The Chickens

will be fed with the same amount of feeds, approximately 50 grams of the 4-in1 natural

feed and commercial feed at 6:30am, 12:30pm and 6:30pm. These will be done for

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repetition within the duration of 38 days. Access to clean water will be given to the

chickens provided with Vetracin gold, an antibacterial-multivitamins.

Statistical Tool

In this study, the researchers will be using One-way ANOVA or one-way analysis

of variance as the statistical tool.

APPENDICES

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

Activities Time Frame

A. Planning Stage (In Days)

1. Determine Material 1

2. Collection of Data 3

Subtotal= 4

B. Implementation Stage

1. Preparing the set-ups 2

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2. Testing the set-ups 38

Subtotal= 42

C. Analysis Stage

1. Analyze Data 2

2. Encode/Rewrite Research 1

Subtotal= 3

D. Reporting Stage

1. Print the Research Paper 1

2. Practice for Oral-Defense 2

3. Present Finding at Conference 1

Subtotal= 4

Total 53 days

PROPOSED BUDGET

ITEMS COSTS (Php)

A. Maintenance and Operating Expenses

Chicken cagePhp2700.00

Food container Php 100.00

Water container Php 100.00

B. Related Costs

Laborer Php1000.00

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Broiler Chickens (10 pieces) Php350.00

Commercial Feed (17 kilos) Php 442.00

Vetracin Gold (7 pieces) Php 140.00

Safety Gloves Php 86.00

Total Php 4918.00

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Damerow, G. 1995. A Guide to Raising Chickens.Storey Books. ISBN 0882668978.

Muztar, A.J, Slinger S.J, Burton, J.H. Metabolizable Energy Content of Freshwater Plants

in Chicken and Ducks, Poultry. Sci. 1979

Youdeowei, A. (2002): Integrated pest management practices for the production of

cereals and pulses. Integrated Pest Management Extension Guide 2; Series

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editors: Cudjoe A. and Braun M.; Ministry of Food and Agriculture, GTZ and

CTA.

Research Papers

Guichard, B.H. (2008). Effect of Feather Meal Feeding on the Body Weight and Feather

Development of Broilers.EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2008. Retrieved from

http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr_24_3_11.pdf

Isika, M.A., Agiang, E.A. and Eneji E.A. (2006).Complementary Effect of Processed

Broiler Offal and Feather Meals on Nutrient Rentention, Carcass and Organ Mass

of Broiler Chickens. Retrieved from http://www.pjbs.org/ijps/fin661.pdf

Reid,W.S., Exploring Duckweed (Lemnagibba) as a protein supplement for remnants

using the Boer goat (Capra hircus) as a model. Masters of Science Thesis, North

Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., USA, 2003.

Samnang, H. 1999. Duckweed versus ground soybeans as supplement for scavenging

native chickens in an integrated farming system.Jesuit Service Cambodia, Phnom

Penh, Cambodia,Volume 11, Number 1.

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