Atenean Saves A Losing Poultry Farm
It seems preposterous that Albert Quiogue, 51, a former executive of the Sarmiento Group of Companies for 15 years and a former bank manager in Baguio for five years, would be able to do it.
Imagine a man who used to wear executive attire and drive top of the line cars year in and year out in the hustle and bustle of city life and all of a sudden he is brought to a barangay where deadening silence is broken every now and then by the sound of cicadas. How could he survive such situation and the obnoxious smell of chicken manure?
“It was a great challenge,” Albert said inspite of his considerable experience in managing a poultry farm, as the Sarmientos were also engaged in this kind of business.
Albert narrates that this poultry farm in Barangay Anos, Tayabas City, which is owned by the San Martin Agricultural Corporation, has been there for 13 years before he took over. It had a breeding contract with Tyson for 24,000 birds but “the farm was hardly making money,” Albert added.
The Alquiroz family who owns the corporation, was about to sell the farm for a few millions in 2005 when one of the Alquiroz children, who was Albert’s classmate at the Ateneo de Manila University, asked him to move out from the bank in Baguio and manage their poultry farm. The Alquiroz family warned him, however, that if the farm would still continue to be a losing venture under his management, they would eventually sell it.
When the negotiations were finalized, Albert finally moved to Barangay Anos, drastically changing his lifestyle to village condition. Fortunately, the farm is along a cemented road leading to Tayabas City and is about 30 minutes drive to Lucena City, the capital of Quezon province.
Albert’s “executive look” is now gone. With his skin now tanned, he looks like any other probinsiyano wearing shorts, T-shirt, and slippers. “I’m enjoying it,” he said when asked how he liked his job.
Under his management, the farm continued as a contract breeder of Tyson, but this did not last long because the farm was not making as much money as he wanted.
He explained that in contract breeding, the farm has to produce eggs that will be hatched by the integrator and the chicks will be distributed to its contract growers. “If you 1~t 170 eggs per bird per year, it would be good already.” Under his watch, however, the performance of the farm was much better. “For the first time, it was hitting standards,” Albert added.
He was able to make it as he was exposed earlier to the integrated aspects of the poultry business. Having been involved in research and development at Vitarich, a subsidiary of the Sarmiento Group of Companies, “I was fortunate to have befriended many veterinarians who helped me understand the realities of the poultry business,” he said. He knows the integrated aspects of the business from the breeders to the layers to feeds.
From the very start, he was determined to find where the farm was losing and stop it. He found out that the “leakages” came from poor management of feeds. Thus, he ordered the farm hands to weigh the feeds from then on in order to give only the exact amount of feeds needed by the birds.
In late 2006, he was able to convince the Alquiroz family that the farm should shift to broiler contract growing. And they got a contract with Magnolia starting in early 2007.
He is truly making more money from broilers than breeders. With six poultry houses and 24 workers, the farm now produces 90,000 birds per grow or cycle, which lasts for 31 days. Last year, it produced eight grows and is set to attain 17 cycles in two years.
Even at a population density of 0.7 square feet per bird, the average weight is already 1.I kg (kilograms) at 28 days. With an average gross income of P16 to P17 per bird, the farm now makes P500.000 to P600,000 per grow. “It’s something that can’t be [done] with breeders,” Albert said. That’s equivalent to at least P4 million a year with eight grows.
Likewise, the farm is now expanding. Unlike in the past when only the upper portion of each poultry house was used for broiler production under the tunnel vent system, the upper and lower portions of three poultry houses are now being used also.
SUCCESS FACTORS
Albert enumerated four factors that led to his success: proper disinfection of the poultry houses before every cycle; proper elimination of waste; aeration of the poultry houses; and addition of Biolyte to the drinking water for the birds.
He mentioned that manure disposal used to be a problem; the waste had to be buried to avoid air pollution. However, with carbonized rice hull (CRH) as litter, manure is now being used for the production of organic fertilizer.
Aeration of the poultry houses is enhanced by bamboo slats used as flooring, and gunny sack is spread on the floor before spreading CRH as litter. Air passes through the bamboo slats keeping the waste aerated, Albert said.
Liquid Biolyte is also added to the drinking water of the birds starting at Day 12 onwards. It enhances the livability and feed conversion rate of the birds, and reduces mortality rate.
“Now, they (the owners) are making lots of money and, hence, can already afford to pay bonuses,” Albert concluded.
The farm also gets an extra income of P45,000 for 90,000 birds per cycle or P360,000 a year. This is because the farm gets an extra pay of 50 centavos per bird for getting a 96 percent livability, a percent higher than the livability standard of Magnolia.
The medication cost is also much lower than what is allowed by Magnolia because Albert only spends P20,000 per cycle for 42 liters of Biolyte, one of the products of Novatech Agri-Food Industries. With Biolytle, which is loaded with enzymes and microorganisms, the total medication cost is only 70 centavos. Whereas, the allowance of Magnolia is 90 centavos.
