What Are the Native Chicken Breeds? A Comprehensive Introduction to Common Breeds

Common native chicken breeds include the White-ear Yellow chicken, Lushi chicken, Gushi chicken, Zhengyang Three-yellow chicken, Langshan chicken, Big-bone chicken, Shouguang chicken, and Xiaoshan chicken, among others.

1. White-ear Yellow chicken

The White-ear Yellow chicken is a rare breed in China. In 2001, it was among the first batch confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture of China as one of the 11 national-level resource-protected local chicken breeds in the country. In 2005, the Guangfeng White-ear Yellow chicken, as the second live animal case in Asia, obtained national protected-designation-of-origin product certification. In recent years, the county has vigorously implemented the White-ear Yellow chicken protection project, formulated and implemented technical standards such as the "Local Standard for White-ear Yellow Chicken," and established a White-ear Yellow chicken foundation stock farm and a technology extension demonstration area, actively advancing the protection and development of the White-ear Yellow chicken.

2. Lushi chicken

The Lushi chicken is an ancient chicken breed suitable for free-range raising in mountainous areas. Lushi chickens are small and agile, strong at foraging, and tolerant of coarse feed; their living habits and the quality of their meat and eggs are very similar to those of pheasants. As early as the 1980s, they were included in the "Records of Fine Chinese Livestock and Poultry Breeds." Lushi chickens are famous for their distinctive quality characteristics of high protein and low cholesterol, together with Lushi's unique geographical location, climate features, and cultural factors.

3. Gushi chicken

The Gushi chicken is an excellent flock with outstanding characteristics, developed through long-term selective breeding within a certain area centered on Gushi County, Henan, under specific geographical and climatic conditions and traditional feeding and management methods. It is a famous local fine dual-purpose chicken breed in China, raised for both meat and eggs, and is one of the nationally key protected livestock and poultry breeds. Its plumage is mainly yellow and yellow-brown; it has blue legs, blue feet, and a blue beak, a medium-sized body, and features such as tolerance of coarse feed, strong disease resistance, and tender meat. In September 2006, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China approved geographical indication product protection for the Gushi chicken.

4. Zhengyang Three-yellow chicken

The Zhengyang Three-yellow chicken is distributed in the Wenshu River basin across 29 townships within a radius of more than a hundred li, in the border area of Zhengyang, Runan, and Queshan counties in Zhumadian City, Henan. It has many stably inherited and economically favorable traits, making it a valuable gene pool for breeding and creating new chicken breeds in China, with important value for conservation, utilization, and scientific research. It is suitable for breeding improved dual-purpose meat-and-egg chicken breeds for mechanized cage rearing.

5. Langshan chicken

The Langshan chicken is one of the dual-purpose chicken breeds raised for both eggs and meat. It is known for laying many eggs, large eggs, a plump and robust body, and delicious meat. By plumage color, it is divided into black and white types. The black one is called "Langshan Black"; its feathers are black with a greenish and bluish sheen, glossy and brilliant in color. Among the "Langshan Black" there is a variety with a tuft of feathers behind the head crest, also called "Langshan Phoenix," which people from Rudong call "tufted-head chicken." The white one is called "Langshan White"; "Langshan White" is very few in number, its feathers are spotlessly white, paired with a bright red comb, with red and white clearly distinct and pleasing to the eye.

6. Big-bone chicken

The Big-bone chicken is also called the Zhuanghe chicken. The Big-bone chicken has a long history of formation. According to records, as early as more than two hundred years ago, immigrants from Shandong brought the large Shouguang chicken from Shandong to Liaoning, crossed it with local chickens, and then developed it through long-term selective breeding by the local people. It is mainly produced in Zhuanghe City, Liaoning Province. It is distributed in places such as Donggou, Fengcheng, Jinxian, Xinjin, and Fuxian. The Big-bone chicken is a dual-purpose local chicken breed whose outstanding feature is large eggs. It is specifically characterized by a stocky and solid build, strong foraging ability, many and large eggs, thick and firm eggshells, and fresh and tender meat.

7. Shouguang chicken

The Shouguang chicken originated in the area of Daotian Township, Shouguang County, Shandong Province. The chickens raised in Cijia Village and Lunjia Village are the best, so it is also called the Cilun chicken. This chicken is characterized by a very large body size and large eggs. It is an excellent local chicken breed of the dual-purpose meat-and-egg type. According to the 1978 Shandong Province poultry [records]. "Shouguang chicken" meat is fresh and tender and rich in nutrients. In the market, at a price 2-3 times higher than ordinary chickens, it has become a sought-after product in high-end guesthouses, hotels, whole-chicken restaurants, and wedding banquets.

8. Xiaoshan chicken

The Xiaoshan chicken has a relatively large body and a rounded appearance. Its characteristics are fast early growth, early maturity and easy fattening, disease resistance, tolerance of coarse feed, and strong adaptability. After fattening, the capon meat is tender with yellow fat and is especially delicious and fragrant, and is called "red-feathered large capon." The Xiaoshan chicken is one of China's eight famous chickens. As early as the Spring and Autumn period, folk native chickens were selected and brought into the palace of the King of Yue for ornamental and recreational purposes, gradually forming a breed with good traits called "Yue chicken." Later it spread from the palace to the folk, and after careful breeding became today's Xiaoshan chicken, so its rearing history has already reached more than 2000 years.