A unique brooding system has been developed by Andry and Joji Lim of Helen’s Farm in Calinan, Davao City. The two are avid practitioners of natural farming in both crops and farm animals.

Recently, they started raising Sunshine free-range chickens in their farm. And as true innovators, they came up with a system that will do away with the light bulb or the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as source of heat to warm the chicks during the first three weeks of their life.

The first 21 days of the chicks is a most critical period because they could be subjected to stresses they might not be able to endure. That’s why under ordinary systems, the chicks are provided with light bulbs to keep them warm. In places without electricity, the source of heat could be LPG or charcoal.

The brooder that the Lims have devised is simple to construct. A circular enclosure made of plain GI sheet is constructed. One with a 10-feet diameter will be just right for brooding 200 chicks. The plain GI sheet is used so that rats and lizards (bayawak) will not be able to enter the brooder. A fishnet is also installed above to prevent cats from entering.

What is truly unique is the flooring of the brooder. It consists of a mixture of rice hull and rice straw (half-half) that is about one foot thick, and then sprayed with beneficial indigenous microorganisms to keep away the harmful microbes. This generates enough heat to warm the chicks so that there is no need for light bulbs or LPG to provide the needed heat.

Meanwhile Andry Lim recommends that upon arrival of the chicks, they are given right away water with brown sugar to drink. Afterwards, they are fed with a mixture of brown rice and finely chopped bamboo leaves. The bamboo leaves are said to make the intestines of the chicks longer, enabling them to ingest more nutrients from their feed intake.

From the fourth day onwards, they sre fed with a chick booster which Andry himself formulates, consisting of 35 kilos of rice bran, 35 kilos of hammer corn, 10 kilos of soya meal, and 5 kilos of copra meal. Before all the ingredients are mixed together, 15 liters of fermented fruit and plant juice concentrates and herbal extracts are mixed with 15 kilos out of the 35 kilos of rice bran.