CASTILLA STEPS UP HARDENED CHICK VENTURE

NEWS RELEASE

SORSOGON CITY (June 2) – The Sorsogon State College (SSC) has proposed a 300-hen level Hardened Chick Production Enterprise which aims to meet the increasing demand of genetically raised for its meat and eggs and provides students and newly graduates additional knowledge on the establishment and management of the enterprise.

SSC President Antonio Fuentes said that the project has a total capital requirement of Php 606,350.41, seventy-nine percent of which (or Php 481,800.00) was financed by the Bicol University Equity Fund and the rest of the 21 percent (or Php125,550.41) came from the SSC Counter-part Fund.

The project is located at the SSC-Castilla Campus at Mayon, Castilla, Sorsogon which is a strategic place for the project operation due to its accessibility to any land transportation.

“The project will maintain 300 hen and 60 rooster breeders for a span of two years and will be replaced every two years,” he added.

The hardened chicks are seventy-five days old, hatched out of the breeders and which maybe artificially or naturally incubated and brooded. Because of the hardening stage, native chickens are prepared for a harsh life and are highly adaptable to conditions such as insufficient feeds, lack of shelter, weather disturbances, and diseases in small farms.

Products such as the hardened chicks are to be marketed three months after the start of operation.

According to Fuentes priority target buyers include selected faculty members, students and graduates of SSC Castilla Campus, and farmer clients and linkages implementing the agricultural development program in their localities.

“Some of the products will also be allocated for the establishment and operation of native chicken for meat and eggs production of the campus administration. Participation of students and graduates would be ensured by giving them the opportunity to gain knowledge in managing the project through on-the-job immersion,” he explained.

Fuentes further said that students and graduates who seek alternative sources of income may take into consideration the hardened chick production as their income generating project.

“Following the business plan, the project is recommended because it is relatively profitable,” he said. (DJMarantal, SSC/PIA Sorsogon)