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Tag: EGG

  • Breeds of chickens and egg prices across the globe

    Breeds of chickens and egg prices across the globe

    I got interested in breeds of chickens early in life, while living with my grandmother in the 1940s and early 1950s. She raised chicken in the backyard solely for meat. I was always fascinated by her attempts to protect the little chicks from being snatched by hawks, usually just before nightfall. The behaviour of the hawks got me interested in ornithology. The interest crystallized during my Senior Fulbright Scholar Exchange year at the University of Wisconsin in the 1986/87 academic year. I spent time observing swallows in the course of their north-south migration across the Wisconsin skyline, often in response to food availability, weather changes, and habitat issues. I have since always wondered how much people knew about birds in general and about chickens in particular beyond eating their meat and eggs.

    Breeds of chickens

    There are over 100 breeds of chickens across the globe, divided into 9 broad categories. In the past, some were unique to particular localities. However, in our globalized world, many of them have been transported beyond their original habitat as part of international commerce. Nevertheless, some survive better in a particular climate than others, while others mature faster than the rest. Today, poultry farmers have improved on the methods of raising chickens on a large scale. So have scientists introduced genetic engineering as they seek new ways of growing chickens faster so they could produce more eggs and more tender meat. In the process, more is known about different categories of birds and their peculiarities.

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    The ten categories of chickens have varying memberships: Brown Layers (22); Colored Layers (7); White Layers (10); Bantams (11); BBQ Special (12); Crested Breeds (6); Ornamental Breeds (5); Rare Breeds (18); Unusual Breeds (16). Indigenous Nigerian breeds belong to one or the other of the above categories. They include Naked Neck, Featherless Wing, Rose Comb, Wild Type, and Frizzle Feather. In my part of Nigeria, these indigenous breeds are known, respectively, as Abolorun, Opipi, Onigbaogbe, Ibile, and Asa. The various breeds raised commercially in Nigeria today belong to one or the other of the 9 categories listed above. They are mainly dual-purpose breeds for meat and eggs.

    Rising costs

    However, for Nigerian housewives today, the major concern is about the rising cost of eggs rather than knowledge of types of chicken. The cost of eggs has more than doubled since early 2023, which is why some housewives use it as a reference point for asking for doubling or tripling the amount of food allowance. The problem is that they complain about the rising price of eggs in their local markets, without knowing about the price of eggs across the globe. Worse still, like everything else, they put the blame squarely on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The truth, however, is that the price of eggs has been rising across the globe for some time now. This has given rise to the economic concept of eggflation.

    Recently, a survey was conducted on the price of one dozen eggs across 127 countries. According to the data, Nigeria is No 96 on the list and the average cost of a dozen eggs in the country rose from $0.40 (about N600 with pre-Covid exchange rate) to $1.92 (which translates to under N3,000). In Africa, only seven countries have cheaper egg prices than Nigeria. They are Morocco ($1.89), Uganda ($1.83), Cameroon ($1.80), Algeria ($1.73), Kenya ($1,59), Libya ($1.47), and Egypt ($1.45). These are countries in the bottom quarter of the price ranking. Rounding up that quarter is India at No 127. It is the only country in the survey, where a dozen eggs costs less than a dollar (at $0.97).

    By contrast, the top one quarter (30) countries with the highest prices for a dozen eggs include many European countries, such as Germany ($3.60), Italy ($3.77), UK ($3.84), France ($4.06), Greece ($4.25), Netherlands ($4.54) and Switzerland, where the cost of a dozen eggs is highest in the world at $6.81. In South and North America, the cost of a dozen eggs ranges from $1.68 in Paraguay to $3.36 in Canada and $4.16 in the United States. However, there are variations from one province or state to another within these countries.

    Critical factors

    The critical question is why are egg prices going up? It is all too easy to blame President Tinubu’s policies for inflationary pressures, which contributed to higher prices for eggs and many other products. But what about the other countries, where inflation is only in single digits, and the price of eggs is two, three, or more times higher than in Nigeria? The answer calls for global explanations.

    First, the Covid years dealt a major blow to feed production as activities were scaled down, leading to increased prices, felt in the markets as from 2023.

    Second, global events, such as the war in Ukraine, caused disruptions in the supply chain of feed ingredients, such as corn and wheat. This has caused major producers of chicken feeds to reduce or curtail production, leading to reduced supply and, consequently, higher prices.

    Third, across the globe, climate change has impacted both feed and egg production. Virtually every part of the world has experienced extreme weather (too hot or too cold) in the last few years. The impact has been felt by both feed producers and poultry farmers alike. The result is higher egg costs.

    Fourth, there have been disease outbreaks in some countries, such as the United States, where the avian flu disrupted egg supply, leading to shortages and higher prices.

    Fifth, immigration policies in the United States and some European countries have caused labour shortages, which have impacted egg production, leading to higher costs.

    The bottomline

    The bottomline is that the rising cost of eggs is a global phenomenon, and it is symbolic of increased prices of most consumer goods across the globe. Consumer illiteracy, limited knowledge of the world, untruthful politicians, and social media liars have made everything look like Tinubu’s fault.

    But then, the presidency has done little or nothing to properly educate the public about global events and the place of the administration’s policies within them. Even now that some of the policies have begun to yield some dividends, the administration has restricted its public communication to responding to criticisms, founded or unfounded. Now that the 2027 general election has begun to smell in the political air, the administration had better start preparing a robust midterm report, now that the midterm is barely two months away.

    Finally, it is high time it was made a central government policy to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on global feed supplies for chickens. Until chicken feeds are locally produced in abundance, the price of chickens and eggs will remain high.

  • Eight things you probably didn’t know you could do with egg

    Eight things you probably didn’t know you could do with egg

    Go beyond scrambled, fried or sunny-side up with these unexpected things to do with eggs.

    Here are eight things you probably didn’t know you could do with eggs.

    Treat a cut

    The thin membrane from a hard-boiled egg can be applied on cuts to promote healing. The membrane has wound-healing nutrients and can be used as a bandage for cuts. You have to be gentle when applying the membrane on the wound though, so it doesn’t cut from over stretching.

    To deter pests

    You can use eggs as some form of pesticide to deter pests. Simply scatter crushed eggshells on top of flowerbeds to discourage and deter snails, slugs and cutworms from coming to the area.

    To help seeds germinate

    This is mainly done with flower seeds. Eggshells can be used at the initial stage of seed germination. They can be used to start your seeds for the season. Use a needle to poke a small drainage hole in the bottom half of an empty egg shell, fill in the shell with soil and press in the seeds. Take care of the seeds appropriately and watch them grow.

    To substitute glue

    The proteins in egg white tend to set quite firmly when dry because of their strong bonding properties. Raw eggs whites are actually powerful bonding agents that can be used on paper as a substitute for glue when glue isn’t available.

    To fertilize plants

    Eggs shells contain a high amount of calcium which is a beneficial mineral for cherry tomatoes, garden eggs and other plants in the nightshade family. For this reason, they are great for use in helping to fertilize these plants to promote growth and germination.

    Read Also: Poultry farmers blame egg price hike on scarcity, feed cost

    To boost calcium intake

    Like was stated above, eggshells have a high amount of calcium, and aside from using them to fertilize plants, they can also be used to help boost calcium intake in humans. Simply bake an empty egg shell at 350 degree Fahrenheit for eight minutes, let cool, then grind to fine powder and add a teaspoon of it to your juice.

    To scour metal

    Ground eggshells are powerful abrasives that can be used to clean dirty pots, pans and even pipes to make them shine and look new again. You can add some soapy water to dampen the ground eggshells a bit before using them to scour the metal.

    To make a candle

    Poke a hole in the top of a raw egg, and then break bits of the shell to enlarge the hole until a third of the shell is removed. Pour out the raw egg. Melt organic beeswax and affix a candlewick to the bottom of the shell with a few drops of wax. Once dry, pour the wax around the wick to just below the top of the shell.

  • Poultry farmers blame egg price hike on scarcity, feed cost

    Poultry farmers blame egg price hike on scarcity, feed cost

    The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has blamed the consistent hike in egg prices on low production and high cost of feed.

    The PAN Lagos state Chairman, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, and other stakeholders in the sector disclosed this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    NAN reports that the price of egg has increased tremendously, making the common source of protein in the past out of the reach of many Nigerians.

    NAN also reports that a crate of egg sells between N3,800 and N4,000 from the farm gate and above N4,500 in retail shops and markets against N3,200 to N3,500 it was sold in May.

    A tonne of maize currently sells for N800,000 as against N400,000 in January.

    Iyiola attributed the persistent hike in the price of eggs to scarcity.

    “The reason for the current hike in the price of eggs is that eggs are very scarce now.

    “Most farmers have sold off their old layers, and to get new stock is very expensive as the price of a day-old chick is becoming unbearable.

    “Farmers able to buy day-old chicks are considered to be well-to-do. Also, a majority of our local farmers have shut down their farms due to the high cost of feed.

    “Presently, a kilogramme of maize costs as high as N850 as against N400 to N500 that was being sold for at the beginning of the year.

    “The same thing applies to soya and the groundnut cake, the prices have increased astronomically,” the PAN chairman said.

    He, however, said that the increase in the cost of eggs is not commensurate to the rate at which the cost of feed materials are increasing.

    “In fact most farmers are running at a loss. That is why the only existing farmers are trying to keep the sector running.

    “Even if a crate of egg sells at N5,000, the farmers will only be managing to get by.

    “We want to liaise with the food hub at Idi-oro, our farmers are complaining that they can no longer afford to sell at a loss.

    “We supply eggs at the farm gate at N3,800 per crate and with the same logistics we still sell at N3,800 at the hub. This means we are running at a loss.

    “With all these incurred logistics expenses a crate of eggs should be sold for N4,500 at the food hub,” he said.

    According to him, the way things are going if things are not controlled, the sector may collapse entirely.

    “It seems consuming eggs have become luxury in our diets.

    “We have scheduled a meeting with the government to tackle the situation because there is nothing an individual can do on this issue. We need government intervention,” Iyiola added.

    Also speaking, Mr Godwin Egbebe, the National Publicity Secretary PAN, attributed the hike in the cost of raw materials to the reason for the rise in egg prices.

    “Early this month, a tonne of maize sold for N720,000 but as of today 12 June, 2024, it sells at N800,000. During the former President Buhari’s administration a tonne of maize was sold at N80,000.

    “The increment is over 1,000 per cent, so you can see the reasons for the hike in poultry producers.

    “The way forward is that government as a matter of urgency should bring in grains in the short term.

    “And in the long term, they should ensure that farmers go back to their farms secured.

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    “Farmers are not producing enough grains because of insecurity. Palliatives cannot solve the problem, it is like a drop in an ocean. It makes little or no impact,” Egbebe said.

    He said that in some supermarkets, eggs are being sold for N5,000 and above.

    “Everyday we go to buy feeds, the price changes. As we speak, farmers are actually selling at a loss.

    “Most farmers are not breaking even, so they are folding up, it is not funny anymore,” he said.

    On her part, Mrs Theresa Muyi, a poultry farmer in Alimosho, decried the situation and the helplessness of local farmers to the persistent hike in feed prices.

    “Poultry feed has gone up and we now sell a crate of egg from the farm gate between N3,800 and N4,000. The retailers sell from N4,500 and above.

    “The price is still unstable because almost every week there is an increase in feed prices.

    “Eggs seem to have become luxury to the common man as a piece of egg now sells at N200 and above,” Muyi said.

    (NAN)

  • Egg price hits N4000 per create of 30…’Ebi n pa wa!’

    Egg price hits N4000 per create of 30…’Ebi n pa wa!’

    For the smart Nigerian poultry farmer, this is the time to rake in millions of Naira every month however comatose the economy may be… and put more Protein on millions of dinning-tables nationwide. I am looking at a population of 230 million Nigerians, 200 million of them eating one egg or 6.6 million crates daily. At an all-time low price of N2,000 a crate, the association should earn N6,600,000,000 x N2,000 or N13,200,000,000,000. Please, forgive me. I am not a money man and I have no head for figures. Nevertheless, I reckon that every day, poultry farmers can earn N13.2 billion from egg alone through better farm management,  halving  current price of N4,000 per crate and  improving marketing. Unfortunately, half of the members of the Nigerian Poultry Association (NPA) have closed shop because of ineptitude! Food is the fastest moving commodity toady. With beef and fish out of reach, and about 200 million Nigerians wishing to eat at least one egg every day to beef up their recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein, egg price should fall by half to under N100 if poultry farmers were dynamic.

    However, the average poultry farmer is uninventive, mentally lazy and still mentally colonised by Europeans and Americans. The colonial master is wise. He takes away your taste and lifestyle and implants his own in your brain. You no longer can be yourself. You  think and  act like him and become dependent upon him until your spirit wakes up and can engage in a bitter struggle to tear yourself away from his stranglehold. Nigerian poultry farmers, caught in this colonial mentality web, have been uninventive since the prices of poultry inputs started rising. They slam the back of their palm on their lap, telling us they cannot find American Dollar to import soya beans and fish meal for the protein input of poultry feed. They repetitiously  keep  lamenting. How sad! Whoever tells them that only fish meal and soy beans wired into their brains by Euro-Americans are the only protein sources for animal feed?

    I know they are not, from my experience as a lay farmer in the 1990s when I reared about 30 local and poultry chickens along with some rabbits in the backyard of my residence. None of these animals died. I neither fed them poultry feed nor gave them pharmaceutical drugs. Simultaneously, I raised about 300 pigs and piglets in one year from three sows (female pigs) and one boar (male). At today’s average price of N100,000 per table size pig, that  could be N30 million. Were age and I on the same page, and I could push out that  number every month, would  I today not  live in my dream house where I designed a fish pond in the  backyard to run from one end of a perimeter fence to another? Young people should not throw away their country with all its wonderful opportunities, and should learn to make ways out of cul de sacs. I strayed into the poultry pen and into the pig farm in the late 1990s when Nigeria’s military strong man, Gen. Abacha, shut some newspapers, including The Guardian, in which I worked. For one year, my salary was gone! So was my wife’s. She was a Political  Science lecturer at Lagos State University ( LASU). The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the lecturers’ trade union, was on a nation-wide strike and Gen. Abacha  suspended salaries. In this circumstance, one of our children scored over 90 per cent in Lagos State Common Entrance Examination to Secondary School and was offered admission to the prestigious MODEL COLLEGE, KANKON near  Badagry, at that time and for several years running, the  best Secondary School in Lagos State. We were to secure the admission with N5,000, which we did not have!. Luckily, a family friend, Mr. Akin Soname, visited us. Two of his daughters were in the school. He knew we had no money and that I do not beg for money. He returned the following day with cash gift of N5,000 for our son. Next day, we were in Kankon to pay the acceptance fee. Before the start of school, I found myself in the first poultry ever. I had tried to sell vegetable  before then, but market  women doscouraged me with under pricing. Mrs.Beatrice Oloyede gave me the first 20 crates of egg, deeply moved that I had so easily dropped down the social ladder. I would later also receive egg for sale from Mrs. Ihegboro of Ajuwon, another border area, and from  Mrs. Mudashiru, wife of former Lagos State Governor, Air Commodore Gbolahan Mudashiru, at their farm depot at GRA, Ikeja, Lagos. I earned much more money every week than I earned at work every month! Within months, I was selling about 300 crates a week.

      A crates cost N200 then and we added N50 profit. Soon, I added ice block in paint-buckets, chewing stick, palm oil (thanks to Prof. Rafiu Akindele, formerly at University of Ife and later at the NIIA in Lagos, who had connections with Apoje Oil Palm Factory). I sold egg to  market women, mallams, food vendors, mai-tea and even helped to establish unemployed mallams in mai-tea business. I gave them egg in the morning and collected the proceeds in the evening. What did I not sell? I sold Ijebu chewing stick, coconut, ice block, herbs, rice etc. Mrs. Oloyede and her friend Mrs. Monisola Aiyesimoju exposed me to pig farming at Oke-Aro, a border area of Ogun State with Lagos State.  I returned home from school ran to sell ice blocks and, then, egg, followed by raw rice or any other business. After a bath and breakfast, I headed to the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, to sell herbs, starting with the Ministry of Education where my high school classmate, Mr. Adekunle Onifade, was Assistant Director. In the evening, I collected proceeds of sales I made in the morning.  I immediately separated capital from profit and shared profit into various envelopes such as school fees, housekeeping, electricity, water, petrol and car servicing, building materials etc. This was a new life of a newspaper Editor-in-Chief who did not subscribe to the culture of Ebi n pa  mi or Ebi n pa wa.  I knew that man is meant to create and rule his environment. And guess what? I began to build a house during the adversity.

    Where I am heading is the experiments I carried out with chickens and pigs that may help today’s lamenting poultry farmers. This could reduce egg price, promote volume sales, bring more profit and provide more protein on the dining table.

    CHICKENS

    I hardly realised I was practising organic poultry farming which is a money spinner globally, today. Rather than give those birds pharmaceutical antibiotics, I ground to paste a basketful of garlic bulbs which I mixed with their drinking water.  Sometimes, I interchanged with lime or lemon and their ground peels.  Lime and lemon were inexpensive in those days because their nutritional and health value were not well exposed to the human health market. Another great one was CHRISTMAS CANTALOUPE or CHRISTMAS MELON which Yoruba call TAGIRI. This may be ground to paste and fermented in livestock drinking water. It has been shown to prevent and cure New Castle  and Gomboro diseases which sometimes devastated livestock population. For human and livestock, Christmas melon provides vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, immune boosters and probably anti-cancer agent. None of my chickens died. I used their fecal waste mixed with saw dust as manure for pineapples, sugar cane, parminger, vervain, scent leaf etc.  I harvested lots of egg from the native chickens which I s        old in the open market from where herbalists purchased them. For their feed, I obtained the waste from the processing of maize to pap and mixed with protein sources from plants, maggots and chicken feathers. 

    I produced or obtained maggots from the poultries, cleaned them up and roasted them with leaf powder. The process may have been alright for a small holding, but can it not be improved upon for larger stocks? Poultry farmers can grow SPIRULINA in small ponds on their farms. It is probably the plant with the biggest source of chlorophyll and beta carotene in the plant kingdom. Its proteins are complete and between 60 to 70 per cent absorbable. It comes with minerals, vitamins, plant sterols and other factors. The more beta carotene a chicken consumes, the more yellow the yolk of its egg.  Poultry chickens are not fed plant feed and so do not have access to adequate beta carotene. To make the egg yolk yellow, therefore, the farmer adds dyes which may be carcinogenic to the chicken and humans. All the injections the chicken is given for Gomboro, New Castle diseases end up in their flesh and egg. This is why some of them have to be discontinued one month or 14 days before slaughter. However, who in the face of business, keeps to these rules? How do we know how chemically safe the egg and chicken we are eating are? Everything is made so easy for the chicken farmer of today in the INFORMATION AGE only if he or she is not mentally lazy and living in the past. Many plants are proteinous.

    Jatropha Tanjorensis Ellis, called IYANA IPAJA in Lagos or HOSPITAL TOO FAR in Akwa Ibom or Catholic Vegetable by other persons, is a remarkable plant. It is a popular vegetable in Asia. It grows rapidly, especially if well tended. It only requires cooking or roasting for about 20 minutes to neutralise the anti-nutrients. According to a study published in https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043933917000824, Jatropha seed bears 35 to 50 per cent crude protein which may replace soya bean as a  protein source in livestock feeds when they are treated with heat or chemical to neutralise anti-nutrient inhibitors present in them. Such treatment releases several other nutrients such as antioxidants, immune modulators and anti-inflammatories etc. Can the poultry association not set up Jatropha plantations and a Jatropha seed mill factory for livestock feed? This import substitution will lower poultry cost, increase profit, make poultry products more organic and health friendly and create jobs. What about SORGHUM BICOLOR stalk which cost next to nothing but provides 85 to 87 per centcrude protein? We should not be throwing away maize covers, they can be used for many purposes, including manure. What about those reddish leaves, the FRUIT (or Almond) tree sheds regularly?

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    Can the poultry farmers not grow other ornamental but nutritious plants on the farm and mill them to powder? I once solved the question of BONE MEAL by gathering the shells of egg from mai-teas and grinding them to powder for calcium. Those leaf powders provided the counterpart magnesium. For more protein, I collected chicken feathers from the then Onipanu chicken market by the FirstBank branch, and roasted them to powder in a mixed of palm kernel cake, maggots and other protein sources. Onipanu Chicken Market was an eye sore but thriving “wait-and-get” chicken market were chicken was slaughtered, cured, dressed and bagged within minutes. The women threw away the feathers, unknown to them it was money and nutritious for the chicken. So, they gladly gave it to me to dispose of for them. Google says feathers present between 75 and 80 per cent crude protein, in particular amino acids such as arginine, cystine, glycine and phenylalanine.

    Reading provides information and information converted to action provides power over the economy and environment. It is remarkable that the young microbiology graduates I approached in those days to partner with me in maggots and spirulina farmingjç, considered the job too dirty for their level of education. That is what I believe still holds back the poultry farmers today.

    People who know that I stopped eating poultry chicken and egg about 20 years ago may wonder why I have suddenly become an advocate for their production.  I still eat egg but from free range chicken and guinea fouls. It is the egg and flesh of the caged, sick and chemicalised birds I despise. I cannot recommend for other persons what I do not eat. That is why I suggested natural materials in the place of pharmaceuticals.

    EBI N PA WA

    Everywhere, people say they are hungry…”EBI N PA WA”. That statement is even more powerful than merely expressing hunger. Ebi n pa wa means “hunger is killing us”.  The tongue is a powerful organ. It forms words. Like thoughts and the physical deed, the spoken word forms the environment of everyone. Thus, no one can rise beyond his or her thoughts, the spoken words and the deed. Is it, therefore, surprising and shameful even as Peter Obi has put it, that Ukraine, a country of 39 million people by United Nation 2024 projection and living under a devastating war for two years running with Russia, is not hungry and making donation of maize and sorghum to a hungry Nigerian population of 228 million people by United Nations projection for this year. More annoying is that Nigeria has an arable land mass of 37 million hectares whereas the arable land mass in Ukraine is eight million from which it provides food for itself and other nations. I subscribed to the conception that the womanhood of a nation is the barometer for measuring the well being of the people.

    Currently, many Nigerian women, especially the young ones, are walking half naked on the street and opening their legs just about anywhere for just about anyone. No one is thinking of cultivating the land. The churches and mosques are growing richer but are not investing in agriculture to feed their hungry congregations. The Agriculture Minister, Abubakar Kyari, the 36 agriculture commisioners and the FCT mandate secretary for agriculture appear to have no revolutionary ideas for improving food supply. Is it not enough to say food prices are up because food is being exported for more income to hungrier nations around us. In my FACEBOOK account at (John Olufemi Kusa), I have added my widow’s mite contributions on how to farm 100 trillion rabbits and 100 trillion Papaya in one or two years alone. If 100m Nigerians are led by the Agriculture Minister and Commisioners to plant pawpaw seeds everywhere every day for one month, we may have one billion seedlings on our hands. If we treat them to become female and dwarf by removing the tap root, as Mrs. Shade Kusa has taught many of us, and if each one produces about 50 fruits every year, we can imagine how many pawpaw fruits may be available on the dining table. I imagine everyone eating two free  pawpaw fruits for breakfast. There should be no hunger in the land. The rabbit revolution will be a bigger kettle of fish. We have no business with hunger. Pitifully, this generation is thoughtless and bereft  of KNOWLEDGE, however ERUDITE it is. With the astral environment heavy with negative vibrations which the populace which planted the seeds must experience, does a government, well meaning as it could be, not labour in vain?

    220 MILLION  EGGS A DAY

    Yes, Nigeria can produce no fewer than 220 million eggs a day, one for everyone. I thought of giving this idea to Mr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Interior Minister, before Beta Edu’s spanner in the works. He was a dynamic, fast-moving minister. He had sorted out log jams in the Passport Office and got many prisoners money to pay their court fines and return home. Nevertheless, he was still feeding about 80,000 prisoners in 244 prisons nation-wide every day at a cost of about N700 per meal. When the budget got too high and the rations were to be reduced recently, some prisoners  violently protested. When I heard that, I thought all of us free citizens were stupid. If 80,000 fellow citizens broke the law which we always stress ourselves to respect, why should they be eating three square meals a day on our bills with nothing in return besides serving their terms when many of us eat only one meal a day or none at all?

    Mrs.  Beatrice Oloyede, a poultry guru, informed me two  farm  hands can feed 5,000 birds in one  day.  From this, I wondered why the prisons cannot deploy five inmates to 5,000 birds and, nationwide, create 5,000 poultries, each of 5,000 birds or 25 million birds. If half of them lay eggs every day, this would mean 12.5 million eggs or 417 crates. If all 80,000 prisoners nationwide eat two eggs a day, this is only 160,000 eggs a day out of 12.5 million. The remainder could be sold.  Prisoners can be paid for their labour, while learning a trade.  A special fund can be created from which, after their terms, they may be given start-up capital for their own poultries. If other prisoners are engaged in other areas of agriculture, such as rabbit farming and vegetable farming, the government can save a lot of money from prison food budget. If society follows this trend, there should be little or no cry of … EBI N PA WA…

  • PAN appeals to FG to adopt an egg a day strategy in IDPs’ diet

    PAN appeals to FG to adopt an egg a day strategy in IDPs’ diet

    The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has appealed to the Federal Government to incorporate “an egg a day’’ strategy in its feeding programmes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and primary schools.

    The Director-General of PAN, Dr Onallo Akpa, made the appeal, while briefing newsmen on the commemoration of the World Egg Day in Abuja on Friday.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Egg Day is celebrated globally every Oct. 13 to help raise awareness of the benefits of eggs and their important role in life.

    The theme for this year’s edition is “Celebrate Eggs and It will Help Eliminate Hunger, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition’’.

    Read Also: Egg intake doesn’t cause heart attack – PAN

    Akpa said that adding eggs to the menu of IDPs and primary school pupils would facilitate the cognitive and mental development of children, while alleviating the issues of malnutrition.

    He also solicited the inclusion of eggs and its products in the feeding programmes put in place for soldiers on peacekeeping missions and inmates of Nigerian prisons.

    He said that the poultry industry had consistently contributed over 25 per cent of the agricultural sector’s input to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the national economy.

    Akpa underscored the need to develop the poultry industry because of the importance of poultry products, particularly eggs.

    “Eggs should be considered a priority food product that can be supplied to displaced persons at various locations or camps throughout the country.

    “To achieve the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the importance of poultry products, especially chicken and eggs, needs to be seriously considered.

    “Also, these poultry products contribute about 36.5 per cent of the protein intake of Nigerians,’’ he said.

    Mrs Sarah Abagai of the Department of Dietetics, National Hospital Abuja, said that eggs contained important nutrients like selenium, Vitamin A and E, folate, riboflavin, choline and lutein.

    Abagai said that eggs are the only source of accessible and easily affordable protein, adding that more researches had proved that eggs were not a cause of excessive cholesterol and heart disease in the body.

    “Now in the health sector, we are targeting the first 1,000 days of every child. We are trying to look at that as a critical window of opportunity to address malnutrition.

    “If you want to buy fish, one might cost N600, and if it is in kilogrammes; it costs between N1,000 and N1,300 per kilo; meat also costs about N1,300 and N1,400 per kilo.

    “A pregnant woman, who must not carry a stunted child, needs adequate protein from the time of pregnancy and this comes handy with `an egg a day’.

    “People need to disabuse their minds of the news floating around because more and more research findings are vindicating eggs from issues of cholesterol and heart diseases,’’ she said.

    The dietician, who noted that methods of consuming eggs depended on individual choices, said that excessive heating of oil during egg frying could be dangerous to the consumer.

    NAN reports that some of the farmers who spoke at the event complained of the high cost of producing eggs without any significant increase in egg prices.

  • Is Yolk colour Indicator of Nutritive value of Egg

    Deviled eggs, poached, fried, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, sunny-side up — whatever way you like your egg, you are looking at that golden center, and sometimes you notice something. The shade of golden is not always the same. Some yolks are lighter, some yellower, some deeper, almost orange-colored. Do you get more nutrients one way or the other?

    The bottom line, says Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat and professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, is that “the color [of an egg yolk] does not reflect the nutrient value in any significant way.”

    Egg yolks range in color from pale yellow to deep orange. Richer-colored egg yolks are more likely to come from free-range hens, says Dr. Hilary Shallo Thesmar, director of food safety programs for the Egg Nutrition Center (ENC): Free-range hens have the opportunity to eat more pigmented foods, and the pigment is then transferred to the yolk. But the macronutrients (protein and fat) remain the same regardless of yolk color, Thesmar says. “However, there might be small changes in some of the micronutrients such as vitamin A and/or lutein.”

    The color of a yolk is due specifically to carotenoids, which are natural pigments found in some plants. Some carotenoids, like beta-carotene, have nutritional value (our bodies convert beta-carotene into vitamin A, for instance). But deeper-colored egg yolks only indicate the presence of carotenoids in general, say not necessarily the presence of beta-carotene. And other carotenoids that might be present may have antioxidant function, but they are not essential nutrients.

  • SON tasks poultry farmers on egg production

    SON tasks poultry farmers on egg production

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has advised poultry farmers across the country to channel their energies towards increased production of egg powder as one of the ways out of the current glut in the egg market.

    Egg powder production requires special machines which processes egg from its original form to powder for other uses. Experts believe that this is one of the ways to end the glut and expand the egg markets in Nigeria.

    Director-General of SON, Osita Aboloma who stated these in Kaduna at a training organised for Poultry Farmers Association (PAN), Kaduna chapter and other poultry and allied stakeholders, maintained that egg remains an important food nutrient for consumers across the country.

    As one of the major ways to end the prevailing glut in the egg market, the agency has charged poultry farmers to embark on capacity building and diversification of egg powder production.

    He called for adherence to standards in the production, grading and storage of egg to boost high patronage of the product across the country.

    Aboloma who was represented at the event by Mr Danlami Datti, SON State coordinator, Kaduna said the workshop was aimed at assisting stakeholders achieve best practices in the sector thus enhancing value addition, which would also impact positively on demand thereby enhance growth.

    According to him, semi-processing of egg into powder would help to reduce glut in the market and price disparity in the system thus enabling farmers to have competitive pricing for their produce.

    On the training, the SON boss said the objective was to ensure that farmers adhered to the basic standards in poultry farming especially with particular reference to production, grading and storage.

    He added: “We want farmers to know that there are standard rules to adhere to and best practices that can help advance the sector. It is in the interest of both the farmers and consumers of the product.”

    He stressed that the SON was ever ready to support farmers as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to improve standards, build their capacity and to sell, so that the job creation commitment of the current administration would be achieved.

    The agency had in recent times intensified its efforts towards supporting various sectors of the economy to enhance their potentials, through the deployment of relevant standards.

    He said the organisation recently conducted a programe for the agro-allied sector across the geo-political zones in the country, with the desire to stimulate the economy. “SON’s desire is to play its part towards harnessing the huge potentials of Nigeria.”

    In his reaction, the Kaduna state chapter Chairman of PAN, Hon. Ishaku Dogo, expressed happiness about the training, saying it had opened their eyes to pertinent standardisation issues concerning their sector.

    He said the farmers have realised that standards are important to the success of poultry business.

    Dogo implored the SON to replicate the training in other states of the federation, to ensure that more farmers are better informed.

  • Fertility: How egg freezing method works, by expert

    Fertility: How egg freezing method works, by expert

    For fertility challenged women, all hope is not lost.They can become pregnant through the oocyte (egg) freezing producure, which is now available in the country. The Bridge Clinic used the process to deliver a baby on February 16. A fertility physician with the clinic, Dr Emmanuel Owie, takes OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA, through the producure’s rudiments.

    Age or menopause may no longer be a barrier to a woman having a child, thanks to oocyte cryopreservation, which is available in the country. Human oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing) is a process where a woman’s eggs (oocytes) are extracted, frozen and stored to be used when she is ready to become pregnant.The ‘frozen’ eggs can be thawed, fertilised, and transferred to the uterus as embryos. The cooling of cells and tissues to sub-zero temperatures stops all biological activities and preserves the eggs for future use.

    The Bridge Clinic is the first fertility clinic to record the feat in the country. A male child, Tiwatope, was delivered in the clinic on February 16, through the process.

    According to Dr Emmanuel Owie, a Fertility Physician with the Bridge Clinic, egg freezing is a way of “thwarting” the ticking biological clock’ of women, who when they grow older, are more likely to produce eggs that will have chromosomal abnormalities that can make it harder for them to conceive and carry pregnancies to term.

    “But with Cryopreservation, which is the cooling of cells and tissues to sub-zero temperatures in order to stop all biological activities and then preserve the eggs from future use, a woman’s chances at child bearing, is increased. Human oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing) is a process in which a woman’s eggs (oocytes) are extracted, frozen and stored. Later, when she is ready to become pregnant, the eggs can be thawed, fertilised, and transferred to the uterus as embryos,” said Dr Owie

    He said “egg freezing is particularly recommended for the women diagnosed with cancer that may lose their fertility during chemotherapy, women with a family history of early menopause, women with objections to storing frozen embryos for religious and/or moral reasons and women who want or need to delay childbearing in order to pursue some personal goals such as career building”.

    Explaining the procedure, using the clinic’s Tiwatope’s accomplishment, Dr Owie said the baby’s birth is significant in many respects, as it has put the country on the global map as regards the practice of oocyte cryopreservation; a new offering in the in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) space.

    He said: “Before Tiwa’s birth this new practice seemed to be an exclusive preserve of the developed world of Europe and North America. It is even more significant, considering the fact that since the report of the first pregnancy through this protocol in 1986, the practice has resulted in the birth of only about 5,000 babies worldwide. And Nigeria has added  one with Tiwa’s birth.

    “Tiwatope’s mother had her eggs frozen using the vitrification, also known as flash-freezing, process. This is the cutting edge technology in cryobiology, where the eggs or oocytes of a woman is dehydrated and the water content is replaced with ”anti-freeze” solution (cryoprotectants) before freezing. This prevents the formation of ice crystals, which could destroy the cell.”

    Tiwa’s parents had battled infertility for eight years, but had the mother had her eggs frozen for two months and on her readiness for pregnancy.

    “We fertilised the eggs, using a standard technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in order to overcome the egg shell, which normally gets hardened with freezing. The fertilised egg was subsequently transferred into her womb, resulting in the conception of Tiwa,” “She had her ante natal care in her family hospital and delivered the baby boy through caesarian section (SC),” Dr Owie added.

    Explaining the process further, Dr Owie said: “Egg freezing works in a simple way. Though basically sperm and embryos have proved easy to freeze, the egg is the largest cell in the human body and contains a large amount of water. When frozen, ice crystals form that can destroy the cell. We must dehydrate the egg and replace the water with an “anti-freeze” (cryoprotectants) prior to freezing in order to prevent ice crystal formation. We also learned that because the shell of the egg hardens when frozen, sperm must be injected with a needle to fertilise the egg, using a standard technique known as ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection).

    “And in order to retrieve eggs for freezing, a patient undergoes the same hormone-injection process as in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The only difference is that following egg retrieval, they are frozen for a period of time before they are thawed, fertilised and transferred to the uterus as embryos.”

    Asked when a woman should freeze her eggs, Dr Owie said the chances for success (pregnancy) are greater if a woman uses ‘younger’ eggs—meaning either eggs she froze in her 20s or early 30s, rather than later on. And for how long can the eggs remain frozen? He said eggs are frozen in the same manner as embryos, utilising a freezing temperature of -196 degrees Celsius. Eggs could be preserved for more than ten years. Long-term storage of frozen eggs does not result in any decrease in quality. And how many eggs should a woman store to achieve pregnancy? He said, based on studies, egg thaw rates of 75 per cent and fertilisation rates of 75 per cent are anticipated in women up to 38 years of age. Thus, if 10 eggs are frozen, seven are expected to survive the thaw, and five to six are expected to fertilise and become embryos. Usually three to four embryos are transferred in women up to 38 years of age. It is recommended that 10 eggs be stored for each pregnancy attempt.

    Coordinator, Corporate Marketing/Communication and Client Relations, The Bridge Clinic, Dr Ekundayo Omogbehin said aspiring women can be rest assured that the babies born through this medium are normal, as the case of Tiwa has shown, “The baby and the mother are in good health to the delight of the family and friends. We could not put faces (photos of them) to the names due to the sensitivity that still goes with novel developments like IVF, understandably. They have, however, given us permission to use the real name of the baby boy (not surname) as well as the photographs of the new baby.

    “We hope these will suffice in the given circumstances. We also hope that, one day, Tiwa’s parents will overcome these sensitivities and come out to encourage other women, who may be in need of this offering to come for it,” he said, adding that the costs for egg freezing are identical to those of routine IVF.

  • Daily egg intake ‘ll improve children nutrition

    •Funtuna inaugurates quadpak

    The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has urged Nigerians, especially children to consume eggs daily because it is rich in essential nutrients.

    PAN President Dr Ayoola Oduntan, who spoke in Lagos at the World Egg Day (WED) with the theme: “Benefits of an egg a day for the Nigerian child,” said regular consumption of eggs will reduce malnourishment in children.

    Moreover, people who are denied egg as part of their daily nutrients are losing.

    “So, failure to consume egg daily may have a huge negative impact on the nutritional health of vulnerable group (expectant mothers and children),” he said.

    Quoting the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), it said, no fewer than 1.7 million Nigerian under-five children are severely malnourished. This, he said, accounts for 10 per cent of the world total of malnourished children.

    He said regular consumption of eggs will help to address some nutritional challenges.

    Oduntan identified egg as God’s natural pill that can conquer hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, adding that it contains the best proteins,vitamins and minerals.

    Besides, it contains naturally occurring vitamin D, useful for calcium and phosphorus absorption for strong bones and teeth.

    “Egg contains other very important nutrients, such as selenium, vitamin A and E, folate, riboflavin, choline and lutein. Eggs are the best follow up to breast milk in children as it contains the richest mix of essential amino acids. It contains the perfect combination of protein, 12 vitamins and 12 minerals,” Oduntan said.

    He said egg helps to regulate the brain, nervous and cardiovascular system because one egg yolk has about 300 micrograms of choline to support memory and mental capacity.

    Director-General of the association, Onallo Akpa said eggs for breakfast assist dieters to lose weight because of the feeling of fullness or satisfaction it stimulates.

    He said some studies conducted across the world showed that egg may prevent breast cancer, as women who consume at least six eggs per week reduce their risk of breast cancer by 44 per cent. It also prevents ageing of the skin and helps to increase the red blood cell count in infants as well as aiding their brain development.

    “Eggs are best brain and body food for expectant mothers, their unborn children and lactating mothers. Egg improves a child’s concentration level, attention span and scholarly performance for ‘eggcellent’ grades.”

    He continued: “In March, 2002, the American Heart Association guidelines were charged to allow an egg per day into the average healthy American diet thereby ending the Association’s 30 years old campaign that limited egg consumption to three eggs per week.

    “In the same light, the Harvard School of Public Health published that moderate egg consumption which is defined as one egg per day is not associated with increased risk of heart disease and does not have a negative impact on cholesterol neither does it affect a person’s lipid profile. The research finding suggests that it is saturated fat that raises cholesterol rather than dietary cholesterol.”

    Funtuna Egg, an arm of Animal Care Services Konsult (ACSK) has inaugurated four egg quadpak product.

    President, Animal Care Services Konsult (ACSK) Dr Olatunde Agbato underscored the importance of egg to healthy diet.

    He described an egg as the best protein source nature provides as it is rich in lots of essential vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy diet.

    “Eggs are packed full of goodness from Vitamin A which is needed for the healthy development of the body cells, B12 which is necessary for the formation of red blood cells; right through to Choline which is vital for nerves and muscles to function properly and proven to lower the risk of heart disease.”

  • ‘Eggs add N620b to Nigeria’s economy’

    Yearly revenue from egg sales adds N620 billion to Nigeria’s economy, the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) said at the weekend.

    The association said the industry produced about one billion eggs per annum valued at N22 billion.

    Its National President, Dr. Ayoola Oduntan, who said this in Abuja at a news conference to mark this year’s World Egg Day, added that an egg a day for 50 per cent of the population would add N1.7 billion to the nation’s economy.

    He said: “The egg industry produces about one billion eggs per annum valued at approximately N22 billion.

    “An egg a day for 50 per cent of the Nigerian population will produce a daily economic value of N1.7 billion naira. Annual revenue from egg sales will be N620 billion.

    “If per capita consumption of eggs increases to 100 eggs per person per year, then Annual Revenue would be N340 billion.

    Oduntan explained that egg consumption could reduce the risk of cancer in women by 44 per cent, adding that the product could also increase red blood cells in infants as well as develop their brains.

    “Eggs may prevent cancer as women who consume at least six eggs per week reduce their risk of breast cancer by 44 per cent according to some scientific studies. Eggs prevent ageing of skin.

    “Eggs help to increase the red blood cell count in infants as well as in their brain development. Eggs are best brain and body food for pregnant women, their unborn children and lactating mothers,” he said.

    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to keep to his promise of an egg per day for school children in his school feeding programme.