VILLABA, Leyte – The Philippines experienced a small increase in chicken production to 1.63 million metric tons in 2024, but will still need to import about 465,000 metric tons to meet demand. While Central Luzon leads in chicken production, there's a strong focus on improving native chicken farming across the country.
To ensure safe and profitable chicken production, particularly for native chickens, Good Animal Husbandry Practices (GAHP) are essential. GAHP improves animal welfare, boosts productivity, and ensures food safety, leading to better income and food security for farmers.
Recognizing this, ATI-RTC 8, under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP), conducted the Training of Trainers (TOT) program on GAHP for Native Chicken Production and Management. This five-day training aimed to create a group of skilled trainers and share their knowledge with native chicken raisers in their local communities, helping to spread best practices and strengthen the industry.
This comprehensive training aimed to capacitate participants on good animal husbandry practices, including their legal basis, for effective native chicken production and management. Key areas of learning included: Flock Management Techniques, Feed Optimization, Vaccination Protocols, and Balanced Feed Formulation.
Beyond these practical skills, the training also covered critical aspects such as understanding the native chicken industry in the region, familiarizing participants with the Code of Animal Husbandry Practices, identifying potential hazards, demonstrating proper handling and restraining of animals, instituting biosecurity measures, and exemplifying proper record-keeping for efficient farm management. Participants also explored the importance of proper animal identification for traceability, administration and storage of veterinary drugs, handling animals during transportation, and good environmental management practices.
Ms. Marily Larisma, a staff member from the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) Biliran and a participant, expressed her appreciation, "Special thanks was accorded to the host venue for the very comfortable and nice food served, the aircon accommodation and practicum experienced as a very effective method of learning," she shared, also extending gratitude to the OPV staff of Leyte for their insightful discussions and to Ms. Lourdes P. Palconit for her expert knowledge sharing."
The trained individuals are now prepared to cascade their learnings, acting as vital resources to further empower local farmers in adopting GAHP and improving native chicken production across Eastern Visayas.
A total of 27 participants completed the Training of Trainers (TOT) on Good Animal Husbandry Practices (GAHP)-Anchored on Native Chicken Production and Management on June 23-27, 2025 at Agape Paradise of Plants and Animals, Villaba, Leyte,
