What is the Nomura Barred Chicken? A complete guide
The Nomura Barred Chicken is a Japanese local breed, large in size and robust in build. Adult roosters weigh 7 kg, and hens weigh 5 kg, with black-and-white barred plumage. Roosters are tall, upright, full-breasted, muscular, with long and sturdy legs; the comb may be single or triple, and the comb, wattles, and earlobes are all red. The feathers are thick, vivid, and glossy. The head is held high, the tail feathers are upright, and the posture is graceful yet imposing and mighty. Hens have slightly shorter shanks and a stocky build.
The Nomura Barred Chicken is an omnivorous chicken breed. It likes to eat corn, vegetables, and weeds. It can be raised on forage grass. It can also be raised on plant roots, stems, and seeds. The rearing method is the same as for ordinary chickens. It can be kept in confinement or free-range. The feed is the same as that for conventional chicken breeds. This chicken has extremely strong disease resistance. As long as routine hygiene and epidemic prevention are carried out well, there is basically no occurrence of disease. The Nomura Barred Chicken grows quickly. Growth is especially pronounced from 8 to 14 weeks of age, when the average body weight of roosters and hens can reach 3 kg. The average body weight of adult chickens at one year is above 5 kg. The feed-to-meat ratio, calculated for 14-week-old chickens, is 1:2.4. The Nomura Barred Chicken lays about 250 eggs per year, with an egg weight of 45 g. At a rooster-to-hen ratio of 1:10, the fertility rate of breeding eggs is 90%-93%, the hatchability rate is no less than 92%, and the brooding survival rate is above 85%, with an incubation period of 21-22 days. This chicken is accurate in habits and aggressive. Stocking density should be taken into account during rearing; at 12-16 weeks of age, the usual stocking density is 8 birds/m2.
The Nomura Barred Chicken is a pure lean-meat chicken breed. Its fat content is extremely low, its meat is red, and the meat texture is fine, tender, and delicious. The Nomura Barred Chicken can be eaten from 8 to 16 weeks of age. The flavor of young chickens at 7-10 weeks of age is even more like that of game birds. Testing of Nomura Barred Chicken meat by the national meat food quality supervision and inspection authority shows that the chicken meat is extremely rich in amino acids, while the contents of fat and cholesterol are both low, and it also contains relatively many trace elements, among which iron, zinc, copper, and selenium are all superior to those of other types of chicken breeds.