CHENNAI: The humble country chicken, which is loved by meat-eaters for its delicious taste and healthy eggs, gets a new commercially viable avatar as a result of years of research done by scientists at Tamil Nadu Animal Sciences and Veterinary University (TANUVAS).
When poultry farmers want to get down to large-scale business, the chicken fares nowhere close in comparison with broilers, that gets fat much faster and lays eggs far more frequently than its native counterparts.
In a bid to bridge this gap, a team of scientists, led by AV Omprakash from the varsity, have bred an alpha country chicken that grows nearly four times faster than an average native chicken and lays twice as many eggs in a year.
A regular broiler can produce a meat weight of 1.5 kg in six weeks after hatching, but a country chicken puts on only 200-300 grams in that time period. On the other hand, country chicken, which is native to the land, is not only tastier and more nutritious, but also more resistant to disease and increasing temperatures.
“We picked a native breed called Aseel, and selectively bred them for five generations until we hatched chickens that produce 1.1 kilograms of meat in six weeks and lay about 120 eggs a year,” said Omprakash. Despite this massive enhancement, it is still not as efficient as broilers.
“So we decided to cross breed TANUVAS Aseel with Nandanam Chicken 4, a commercially favoured breed, that was developed when the university’s research station was near Nandanam signal,” he said. This breed will be launched at the two-day national conference on Native Chicken Production, to be held at Madras Veterinary College on December 19 and 20.
The conference will see both farmers and academicians who work with country chicken. As demand for these native birds grows by the day, scientists and grassroot poultry farmers will discuss the pitfalls in producing the new chicken in large quantities.
The conference is crucial to research and development in the field as more and more broilers are dying because of temperature increase, said Omprakash. “Country chickens are far more resistant to heat and disease, making them better suited to be locally bred at commercial scales,” he said.
The theme of this year’s conference is, “Conservation and productivity enhancement in view of global warming.”
About 10 other genetic superstars of country chicken, including Kadaknath chicken and Nicobari, which have been enhanced for productivity, will also be exhibited at the conference. About 150 researchers will be presenting their studies at the conference and consultation will be available for poultry farmers who breed native chicken.