Purebred Dong Tao chicken on Tan Ha land

Leaving his hometown of Bac Giang to settle in Tan Ha commune, Tan Chau district, Nguyen The Thao's family encountered many difficulties in the initial steps of starting a business. After many failed attempts at raising purebred Dong Tao chickens, Thao continued to persevere, traveling all the way to Hung Yen to find chicken breeds. After nearly 10 years of raising and researching on his own, he successfully bred purebred Dong Tao chickens in Tan Ha.

Mr. Nguyen The Thao successfully bred purebred Dong Tao chickens.

Mr. Thao said that Dong Tao chicken is a special and rare breed of chicken in Vietnam, originating from Dong Tao commune, Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province. This breed of chicken has long been used to "offer to the king", or to worship on major festivals and traditional New Year's Day.

The special feature of this breed of chicken is its “oversized” legs with red, rough skin. Currently, this breed of chicken is developed in Hung Yen province and some neighboring localities. Due to the difficulty of raising them, only a few households in the southern provinces raise them on a small scale, and the price of chickens and meat is still very high.

Mr. Thao said that in 2012, he brought 20 chicks home for breeding, but when he developed the flock, they were hybrid chickens, not favored by the market, and had low economic efficiency. Not discouraged, he bought 4 more Dong Tao chickens at a high price, raised them to mate naturally, but was unsuccessful.

In the following years, Mr. Thao continued to buy new breeds to raise using traditional methods, but the roosters were difficult to breed on their own, and were only raised for meat. He was still determined to pursue, finding a more reputable farm to buy the breeds, bringing them back to Tay Ninh to raise and research, finding ways to “artificially inseminate” the hens.

By early 2020, he had succeeded in inseminating chickens to create purebred Dong Tao chickens. He said that the work of collecting semen from a rooster will fertilize at least 50 hens, thereby reducing the number of roosters raised, reducing the cost of raising them. Previously, to mate naturally, it was necessary to raise 1 rooster with only 2 hens. If his farm had 200 hens like now, he had to raise 10 roosters, the cost was very high, but the chicks born were not good, the hatching rate was very low.

After successfully breeding, he invested in a more systematic farm, with many separate areas for raising chicks, breeding chickens, finished chickens, and incubation areas... Each area is airy and clean. The entire barn was designed and built by him. Mr. Thao shared more about the process of "artificial insemination" for chickens. If rooster semen is mixed into the solution, then the semen of 1 rooster will fertilize 100 hens, the cost of raising the breed is even lower. At this time, the egg hatching rate is more than 70%; the survival rate of the chicks born is 90%-95%, and they will have beautiful feathers and legs.

According to Mr. Thao, the climate in the South is very suitable for raising Dong Tao chickens, because the weather is not too hot and not too cold like the northern provinces; there is no need to spend much money on cooling or heating the chickens. From the time the chicks hatch, they are raised until 6 and a half months to lay their first litter. When they are newly hatched, the chicks only eat bran, until 5-6 months old, their food is rice mixed with corn, only the laying hens must be given separate food - enough nutrition but to prevent obesity.

Dong Tao chickens have “oversized” legs with red, rough skin.

Chicken feed can be decided by the breeder, but the most important step is to fully vaccinate the chickens in the first 2 months, because the chicks are quite expensive, so they need to be carefully cared for. When the chickens are newly hatched, the temperature needs to be kept at 37 degrees; after every 2-3 weeks, it gradually decreases to 35 and then 32 degrees, and when they are 2 months old, they can be released into the garden. At that time, they will find a hiding place with a suitable temperature for them.

Currently, Mr. Thao's chicken farm has more than 3,000 large and small chickens at its peak, providing breeds of all ages, meat chickens and eggs. The farm owner is willing to advise on how to raise and prevent diseases for Dong Tao chickens.

In the coming time, Mr. Thao plans to supply 20,000 commercial chickens to the market and build the Dong Tao Tay Ninh chicken brand for the farm. "Recently, the Farmers' Association has created favorable conditions for me to borrow capital, hoping that the Association and the State will continue to support me with preferential loans to expand the scale," Mr. Thao shared.

Dong Tao chickens are now raised by many people in the localities and bring about very high economic efficiency. Thanks to raising this precious chicken breed, people have escaped poverty and enriched themselves. However, to be successful in raising this breed of chicken, farmers need to learn from experience and choose purebred chickens for the highest efficiency.

Mr. Truong Quoc Chinh - Vice Chairman of Tan Ha Commune Farmers' Association said that this is an effective economic model, bringing stable income to farmers. Farmers' Associations at all levels will continue to support technology transfer to Mr. Thao's household, as well as support capital to expand the production model, helping members learn more experience. In the near future, the Farmers' Association will coordinate with functional units to organize training and guidance on cultivation and livestock farming techniques, including raising Dong Tao specialty chickens.

Nhi Tran - Hoang Yen

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