Enterprise most fowl — and promising

With a few choice words, Marlon A. Rivera, chief executive officer of Xylena Farms, explains the direction of his fowl raising enterprise. "Kabir chicken and ostrich farming has bright prospects in this country. It’s new and still not much explored, so there’s still much room for business growth with Xylena a vigorous part of it."

Indeed, kabir chicken from Israel promises to be a Filipino consumer’s delight for its delicious eating quality. For one, it tastes like the native chicken (called manok Tagalog in Southern Luzon).

Other than that, it is gaining wings among poultry raisers. It grows faster to 5-7 kilograms (kg) in 60 days as compared with the native chicken which grows only to 1 kg in 60 days–and commercial grower broiler which grows to 1.5 to 2 kg in 45 days. Xylena plans to add grandparent stocks from Israel for their growing flock.

This magnificent bird is a giant among commercial chickens in the country. Developed in Israel, a country which excels in agriculutral development, among many others, kabir was the pride of Kabir Chicks, an independent company founded by Zvi Katz. Rather than follow the conventional breeding methods adopted by the poultry industry in the 1950’s, he implements his own "nature-inspired" methods.

In Katz’s poultry farm, he exercises a broad view of the work in primary breeding and production–as well as, the ability to observe and understand the life of a particular fowl. Along this line, the breeder himself directs the work with the assistance of other professionals’ expertise.

Being implemented at the Kabir chicks agri-firm is a system for the work of primary breeding and production designed to fulfill the maximum amount of special requirements in the most efficient way possible. Kabir’s capability rests on its unique concept and its own huge and widely varied gene pool.

Kabir Chicks is, thus, the only primary breeder gifted with the capability to produce "the bird that you want" with the range of poultry lines possessing inherent health and quality traits.

Moreover, this bird is resistant to tough climatic and management conditions obtaining at any given time or season–and ideal for production by profitable industrial methods.

Another magnificent bird in the Xylena Farms is the world’s most amazing bird: the ostrich (Struthio camelus). Native to most parts of Africa and the deserts of Arabia and Syria and related to Emus, Rheas and Cassowaries, it is the largest of living birds; an adult males stands nearly nine feet and weighs as much as 300 pounds. (Beside the ostrich, Mike Tyson will be a small man; it can even cause damage to the lower leg bone of the boxer with the impact of its kick when surprised; its powerful kick can make a deep, big dent in the side of a car.)

Ostrich is a non-flying bird, but nature more than made up for this divergence with tremendous lung power. It can run at breakneck speed of 75 kilometers per hour, making it the fastest bird in the world. With its sharp eyesight, it can readily spot enemies and beat a hasty retreat as it extends its rudimentary wings for balance. When cornered, however, it can attack viciously with its long toenails.

To date, Xylena has 10 adult ostriches with three males for seven hens for breeding ratio. More birds from South Africa are priority option. As the eggs are not advisable for eating, soon, more birds will be added to the flock from new hatchlings.

The hens have a laying productivity of 15-20 years; one healthy hen can lay a hundred eggs in a year. The amazing bird has a lifespan almost equals to the human’s 5-70 years.

Although ostrich egg is delicious and could fill a cooking fan when fried, it’s better to hatch the eggs–Xylena has the facilities for that–as a chick fetches an awesome P10,000 while the empty shell of the infertile ones (bugok) are being sought by Japanese enthusiasts for P300 per. These are then painted with artwork and sell at P2,000 per piece. These are favorite decorative items in Japanese homes for good luck.

Ostrich meat sells at high-end prices: P800 a kilo for prime cut, P400 a kilo for choice cut and P200 a kilo for cutlet.

Aside from the meat and egg, the hide and plume of the bird have tremendous business possibilities. The hide of one slaughtered ostrich can fetch $1,000 and fashionable lady’s handbag can ring up a thumping $30,000 which is more attractive because of the open pores. Dior and Vuitton are some of the fashion houses that make use of the hide for fashion accessories.

The plumes were popular in the olden days for ladies’ hats and decorations for the royalties of Egypt. These days, the plumes are still part of regal display of pomp and pageantry in royal ceremonies.

In one of the grandest processions recently in the royal calendar of England, in celebration of the Knight of the Garter, kings and queens from other European countries paraded through the cobbled walks of Windsor Castle wearing dark blue velvet robes with matching bonnets topped with ostrich plumes.

Lest the legend of the ostrich burying its head in the sand is perpetuated (in like manner, a person who does something wrong is "ostracised"), let it be made clear that the ostrich does not bury its head in the sand. It is only loweing its long neck to escape detection by enemies while brooding its young.

Xylena Farms is one of the livestock enterprises in a sprawling 48-hectare Tryco Pharma Corporation complex in San Roque, San Rafael, Bulacan. This thriving conglomerate was set up by Marlon’s father, Wilfredo Rivera Sr. who rose from a poor beginning to become one of the country’s foremost names in livestock biological products with three firms offering products that are reputedly even more effective than imported ones and yet very much cheaper.