Duck rearing more than mere dabbling<\/p>\n
By Agus Maryono<\/p>\n
PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): In the middle of a vast expanse
\nof rice fields, under a torrid sun, a young man quietly tends to
\nhundreds of ducks pecking at rice grains and straws not far from
\nwhere he is standing. He is feverishly smoking a cigarette.
\nLater, he whistles repeatedly and the ducks come and stand around
\nhim. He scatters corn, which the ducks welcome with a lot of
\nquacking while they fight for the feed. He does not care about
\nthe scorching heat of the sun during long hours everyday that has
\ndeeply tanned his skin as he keeps ducks for a living.<\/p>\n
Santo, 17, lives in Karangsoka village, Kembaran subdistrict,
\nBanyumas regency, Central Java. He is one of 50 traditional duck
\nbreeders in Banyumas. They continue to exist amid other breeders
\nwho are out of business due to the protracted economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Santo herds ducks every day for an average of eight hours,
\nfrom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. "If I do not tend to the ducks just one
\nday, I feel very sorry. The ducks cry out loudly when they see me
\ncome home because they want to be freed from their pens," said
\nSanto when The Jakarta Post met him in a rice field in
\nBojongsari, three kilometers from his village.<\/p>\n
"I am grateful that I can still eat in this time of crisis. I
\neven earn more now from these ducks than before the crisis," said
\nSanto, who only finished third grade elementary school because he
\nwas strongly attracted to duck eggs.<\/p>\n
Santo, with his 200 ducks, earns about Rp 2 million a month;
\nwhich is based on the sale of duck eggs. Seventy percent of the
\nducks, which are six months old or older, lay eggs every day.
\nThirty percent of the ducks are usually under six months. "This
\nis to replace the older ones which have stopped laying eggs so
\nthere is no vacuum in the production," said Santo.<\/p>\n
Fellow duck herder Ruswan, 20, confirms this. Ruswan comes
\nfrom the same village and owns 150 ducks. Both have been in the
\nduck egg business for more than nine years.<\/p>\n
Santo says that he sells duck eggs to a collector for Rp 650
\neach. He spends Rp 20,000 each day for 20 kgs of corn mixed with
\nloyang (dried rice) to feed the ducks. Yet, he still makes more
\nthan Rp 70,000 a day, or Rp 2,100,000 a month.<\/p>\n
"If there is no problem in feed supply, a duck can lay eggs
\nfor seven months," said Santo. They never take a day off.<\/p>\n
"Every three days the collector comes to get the eggs at home.
\nAt that time, we receive payment after deduction of the price of
\nthe feed," said Santo, who buys feed from the same man. Santo
\nsays that between him and the collector there is an unwritten
\nagreement that in his opinion is mutually beneficial. The need
\nfor duck feed is met by the collector, who is paid the feed by
\nthe sale of eggs.<\/p>\n
"Besides, when I need a fairly large amount of money, I can
\nborrow it from him," said Santo, who feels obliged to sell his
\neggs to this man.<\/p>\n
The traditional way of egg laying is, according to Santo and
\nRuswan, both easy and difficult.<\/p>\n
"The easy part of it is that if you tend the ducks everyday
\nthey will lay eggs regularly. Difficulties happen when the birds
\nare not herded. Then, the process of laying eggs is not smooth,"
\nsaid Santo. In that case additional mixed corn feed will not help
\nthe process, he said.<\/p>\n
Santo and his colleagues buy their ducks from a duck salesman.
\nThe closest one is in Tegal and Sumpiuh, east of Banyumas. They
\nacquire ducks of different ages according to available funds.
\nOne-week-old ducklings cost Rp 5,500 each, two-month-old ducks
\ncost Rp 15,000 each and egg-laying ducks, six months old, are
\npriced Rp 40,000 each. The duck farmers have no equipment to
\nhatch eggs.<\/p>\n
"The prices have been affected by the monetary crisis. Before
\nthe crisis, a two-month-old duck cost Rp 1,500. Fortunately, eggs
\nhave also increased in price from Rp 150 to Rp 650 a piece," said
\nSanto.<\/p>\n
Pens fenced in with bamboo are made to accommodate the newly
\nbought ducks close to the tile-less house. Each day, the task of
\nthe farmer is only to go to the rice field followed by the ducks.
\n"But we take feed with us for the ducks because there may be not
\nenough food in the rice field," said Santo.<\/p>\n
Travel<\/p>\n
To find feed in harvested rice fields, these traditional duck
\nfarmers are not only prepared to expose themselves to the sun and
\nthe rain but also to leave their homes for a couple of months at
\na time. Traveling far, they leave their regency with their
\nhundreds of ducks in search of rice fields at harvest time. The
\nsearch for rice fields in other regions is called buara. "We
\ntravel especially if we run out of the closest places of
\nharvested areas," said Santo, who usually travel up to three or
\nfour months, taking with him a minimum of 150 ducks. "If I take
\nfewer than 100 ducks, for example, there will not be enough eggs
\nand I lose in terms of labor," said Ruswan.<\/p>\n
During their journey, they are content to sleep on mats in the
\nrice fields. The mats are placed on straw in a small cottage also
\nmade of straw or coconut tree stems.<\/p>\n
"Our ducks automatically sleep around the cottage. It is not
\npossible they will go far," said Santo, who once traveled to
\nKebumen and Cilacap, 70 kms from his place in Purwokerto.<\/p>\n
"Each day, we cook our rice in the fields and eat it with some
\ndishes, but often only with some salt. We never make dishes from
\nour duck eggs. This is taboo for the duck farmers so that the egg
\nproduction remains unhampered," said Ruswan and Santo.<\/p>\n
Five groups leave their homes together (one group comprises
\none farmer and a minimum of 150 ducks) but the ducks do not mix
\nwhen they go to sleep. They stay in their respective groups. This
\nunique feature makes it easy for the farmers to collect their
\neggs because there is no risk of taking a colleague's eggs.
\n"Every day during traveling, one of our relatives comes to
\ncollect the eggs, sometimes a collector comes himself," said
\nSanto, who always informs his collector of his whereabouts.<\/p>\n
"In one year, most of us travel only once, but some make two
\ntrips," Ruswan added.<\/p>\n
Their present income, compared to before the crisis, is,
\naccording to the two duck farmers, higher but has less buying
\npower. Their savings, too, are smaller now. "Our income is higher
\nafter the monetary crisis compared to our condition before. But
\nthe problem is the price increases of rice, sugar and other
\nessential commodities. That is the reason for our reduced
\nsavings," said Santo, who said he had savings amounting to Rp 5
\nmillion from the sale of duck eggs in the past 10 months.<\/p>",
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