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Kadaknath chicken

Kadaknath is an indigenous Indian chicken breed of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh, locally also called Kali Masi (black-fleshed). It is the best-known fibromelanotic chicken in India: feathers, skin, beak, comb, wattles, shanks, meat, bones and internal organs are all dark grey to black because of a dominant fibromelanosis gene that deposits melanin throughout the connective tissues. Conservation and pure-line breeding are conducted by ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad and ICAR-Central Avian Research Institute.

Origin and distribution

The breed is native to the tribal-belt districts of Jhabua, Alirajpur and Dhar in western Madhya Pradesh and adjoining Gujarat. Kadaknath received a Geographical Indication tag in 2018 in the name of Jhabua, anchoring the breed name commercially to its home tract.

Morphology

The plumage is uniformly black with greenish iridescence; eyes are grey. The trait that defines the breed is fibromelanosis — melanin pigment in the skin, muscle and connective tissue, giving the meat a dark grey to black colour even after cooking. Adult cocks weigh 1.5-2.0 kg and hens 1.0-1.5 kg, making Kadaknath a medium-frame chicken.

Performance

Hens lay 120-140 eggs per year, with fertility around 90% and hatchability of 70-74% under good incubator conditions. Egg colour ranges from light brown to tan. Meat protein content is 25-27%, higher than that of conventional broiler (Broiler Chicken) and country chicken meat, with correspondingly lower intramuscular fat. The breed is hardy under low-input village conditions and shows useful resistance to common poultry diseases.

Husbandry

Kadaknath is reared primarily in semi-intensive backyard systems (Country Chicken Nattu Kodi) on deep litter (Deep Litter System) and open-sided sheds (Open Poultry Shed). Birds are given a six-month grow-out on a starter-grower ration mixed with kitchen waste and grain (Self Mixed Poultry Feed); meat is then sold at a strong premium over commercial broiler. State and ICAR-DPR distribution programmes supply day-old chicks to Krishi Vigyan Kendras and SHGs in tribal districts. Routine vaccination against Newcastle disease (Ranikhet Newcastle Disease) and other poultry pathogens is essential because the slow grow-out exposes birds to a longer window of infection than commercial broilers.

See also: Sonali Breed.

References

  1. Geographical Indications Registry — Kadaknath. Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.
  2. Kadaknath chicken meat from Jhabua gets GI tag. GKToday.