Taoyuan chicken is a local chicken breed in China
There are quite a lot of high-quality chicken breeds in China, and many chicken breeds have already become regional specialty agricultural products, such as the Taoyuan chicken, a specialty of Taoyuan County, Changde City, Hunan Province, and a national agricultural product geographical indication. Let's take a detailed look at the Taoyuan chicken breed below.
1. Main germplasm characteristics
The Taoyuan chicken is a local meat-type chicken breed, famous for its tall and large body size, and has characteristics such as large individual size, fine and tender meat, delicious meat flavor, and relatively good meat production performance.
2. Body type and appearance
The Taoyuan chicken has a tall and large frame, a sturdy body type, fluffy feathers, and a slightly long body, appearing rectangular. The rooster has a majestic posture, with head and neck held high and tail feathers tilted upward, appearing V-shaped when viewed from the side. The hen is slightly taller in body, with a long and straight back and a deep, rounded rear, roughly square in shape. The rooster has a moderately sized head and an upright single comb, while the hen has a delicate head and a large comb drooping to one side. The earlobes and wattles are well developed and bright red. Tail feathers grow out relatively late; before they are fully grown, the tail appears as a semicircular fingered-citron shape, and after they are fully grown, the tail feathers tilt upward. The rooster's body feathers are golden yellow or red, the main wing feathers and tail feathers are black, and the saddle feathers are golden yellow or interspersed with black spots. The hen's feather color is divided into two types: yellow or partridge. The beak and shanks are blue-gray, and the skin should be white.
3. Production performance
Body weight: adult Taoyuan roosters weigh 3.34 kg, and hens weigh 2.94 kg. Meat production performance: Taoyuan chickens grow especially slowly in early growth and development. At 5 and a half months of age, roosters weigh 71.29% of adult rooster weight, and hens correspondingly reach 64.54%. For 2-year-old chickens, the slaughter rate is 84.9% half-eviscerated for roosters and 82.06% for hens; the fully eviscerated rate is 75.90% for roosters and 73.66% for hens. Egg production performance: the average age at first laying is 195 days, egg production at 500 days of age is 86.18 eggs, average egg weight is 53.39 g, and the eggshell is light brown. Reproductive performance: the general mating ratio of males to females is 1:10-12, the fertility rate of breeding eggs is 83.83%, and the hatchability of fertile eggs is 83.81%. Under grazing conditions, the brooding rate at 4 weeks of age is 75.66%, the survival rate during the growing period (5-32 weeks) is 95.80%, and the survival rate during the laying period (33-72 weeks) is 94.39%. Broodiness occurs 1-2 times per year.
4. Utilization direction
The Taoyuan chicken still has shortcomings such as slow early growth, late feathering, relatively low feed utilization, and low reproductive capacity. In the future, while strengthening selection and breeding of this breed, meat-type chicken breeds can also be introduced for crossbreeding to improve the speed of early growth and development. Improve flock quality, develop in the direction of meat chickens, and increase the commercial rate.
Some time ago, many people left messages asking the Nongxun Network editor how many jin the Taoyuan chicken can grow to. Now the answer can be found in this article. Novice breeders who want to raise this breed but do not understand it can also learn more!
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