Recognizing Dong Tao chicken as a typical product, over the past years, authorities at all levels of Hung Yen province have devoted many resources to preserving and developing the breed.
Dong Tao Commune, Khoai Chau District, Hung Yen Province is located next to the Red River dike, about 20 km from the center of Hanoi , famous for raising big-footed chickens and chickens for the king.
Many people here have become billionaires thanks to raising this rare and "unique" chicken breed. At the end of the year, traders from all over come to Dong Tao to choose the most beautiful chickens to give as gifts or to use as food during the traditional Lunar New Year.
Legend has it that in ancient times only kings could enjoy this extremely delicious specialty, so Dong Tao or Dong Cao chicken was also called the King's Chicken. The most special impression of Dong Tao chicken is its extremely large feet, plump toes, and bright red meat scales.
Some chickens have legs as big as an adult's arm, bright red skin, and when fully grown can weigh over 5-6 kg (roosters) and over 3.5 kg (hens). Therefore, many families like to raise Dong Tao chickens as pets or as precious, nutritious food to use during Tet.
However, because Dong Tao chickens are large, they are difficult to process, transport or preserve for long-term use, making consumption unstable. From that limitation, Dong Tao people have thought of processing chickens into products that are easy to use but still retain their freshness and characteristic flavor.
Products such as chicken ham, fried ham, salted chicken, chicken... were born one after another. Dong Tao people have invested in equipment for packaging and freezing (cold) to ensure that the products are fresh when they reach consumers and can be sold all year round, not just during holidays like before.
Mr. Giang Tuan Vu, Dong Tao Nam village is one of the pioneers in processing Dong Tao chicken, said that when the chicken is pre-processed into a product, it helps solve the problem of weight, is convenient in transportation, preservation and can be used immediately when needed. With this method, the consumption of Dong Tao chicken has increased significantly compared to before.
Carefully selecting pairs of chicken feet as big as biceps and putting them into plastic bags to be vacuum-sealed, Mr. Giang Tuan Vu boasted that a regular customer had ordered 14 kg of Dong Tao chicken feet to send as a gift to a Thai partner. With the current processing method, Dong Tao chicken has made a new step forward compared to before. Chicken and chicken products are easily accessible to domestic and foreign customers.
The processing and packaging of products are all guaranteed to follow the instructions of the authorities, have traceability stamps... so we have gained the trust of customers - Mr. Vu shared.
The land of Khoai Chau is very fertile and rich due to the alluvium of Cai River. With this advantage, people have turned their fields into gardens. Inside the lush grapefruit and longan gardens, flocks of Dong Tao chickens are leisurely scratching the soil, looking for worms.
With natural grazing, along with the soil and climate, Dong Tao chicken has a more distinctive flavor than the same breed of chicken raised in other regions. Along with that, Dong Tao people, generation after generation, have raised chickens for the King, so they have also drawn out their own secrets.
Currently, many provinces and cities across the country are raising big-footed chickens, creating strong competition for chickens raised in Dong Tao. Because they no longer have the monopoly they once had, Dong Tao people are more concerned with improving the appearance and meat quality of their chickens.
According to Mr. Le Quang Thang - Director of Dong Tao Chicken Breeding and Trading Cooperative, in previous years, due to inadequate knowledge and awareness, farmers still had to use antibiotics to treat diseases in chickens.
But in the past 3 years, the members of the cooperative have shifted to organic farming. The chickens are raised in the garden, fed with wood, rice bran, soybean residue, fresh fish, green vegetables, etc., so the chickens have good resistance and are less susceptible to diseases.
Thanks to its good quality, Dong Tao chicken has been trusted by many people across the country and abroad. The total chicken flock in 2024 increased by more than 30% compared to the previous year.
To serve the market during the Lunar New Year, the cooperative has prepared about 1,000 chickens as gifts (big-legged, beautiful chickens), about 7,000 commercial chickens; the whole commune has about 15,000 commercial chickens. The output has increased a lot but the price has not increased compared to the same period last year.
Recognizing Dong Tao chicken as a typical product, over the past years, authorities at all levels of Hung Yen province have devoted many resources to preserving and developing the breed.
Mr. Le Van Thang - Head of the Rural Development Department (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hung Yen) said that in the coming time, to promote the value of Dong Tao chicken, the Department will support farm owners, gardeners and cooperatives to diversify products well, to serve diverse customer groups, thereby increasing the value and income from chicken.
In particular, the Department will coordinate with relevant parties to promote digital transformation in the production and trading of Dong Tao chicken; guide households to apply digital platforms in raising, processing and consuming products from Dong Tao chicken such as: raising in cold cages, using temperature sensors, applying artificial insemination for chickens, etc.
At the same time, support livestock farming households to digitize production processes and promote products by creating videos and clips, posting them on social networking sites and e-commerce trading floors, to expand the market and diversify consumers...
Mr. Thang recommends that, in order to improve quality and scale, small-scale livestock households need to join together to form cooperatives and cooperatives, creating a large scale. From there, there will be more capital to invest in modern equipment to raise and process Dong Tao chicken, increasing the economy for each household.
In the days leading up to Lunar New Year, many families in Dong Tao keep their lights on until late at night. They livestream selling chickens and chicken products on Facebook, Zalo and other social platforms to a large number of customers at home and abroad. From there, the chickens can fly further, making the lives of Dong Tao chicken farmers more prosperous./.
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Source: https://baohungyen.vn/dua-ga-dong-tao-vuon-ra-thi-truong-the-gioi-3178546.html
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