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Kalinga Brown rural layer (Odisha) Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

Kalinga Brown rural layer (Odisha)

Kalinga Brown is a rural-layer chicken developed by the Central Poultry Development Organisation, Eastern Region (CPDO-ER), Bhubaneswar, under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India. The variety is intended for backyard and semi-intensive egg production in the rice-based farming systems of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and the eastern hill states, where it sits alongside the ICAR-DPR layer Gramapriya (Gramapriya Rural Layer) in the national rural-poultry portfolio.

Origin and distribution

CPDO Bhubaneswar bred Kalinga Brown by selecting and crossing brown-egg coloured strains adapted to low-input village rearing. The variety is multiplied at CPDO-ER and at state poultry farms in Odisha and distributed through the Department of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development and SHGs under the Rural Backyard Poultry Development component of the National Livestock Mission (National Livestock Mission).

Morphology

Plumage is predominantly brown, with darker hackle and tail; the body is medium-frame. Adult cocks weigh about 1.8-2.0 kg and adult hens 1.4-1.6 kg by 20 weeks. Shanks are yellow and the comb is single. Coloured plumage gives better predator camouflage in homestead conditions than the white plumage of commercial cage layers (Layer Chicken Bv 380).

Performance

Under backyard rearing with a small grain supplement, hens lay 180-200 eggs per year, with semi-intensive units achieving 200-230 eggs. Egg weight averages 53-55 g and shell colour is uniform brown. Age at first egg is about 175 days. The bird is hardy under village conditions and retains useful broody and predator-avoidance behaviour, although broodiness is lower than in pure indigenous chicken.

Management

Day-old chicks are brooded (Brooding Chicks) for 4-6 weeks on a starter ration before release to a fenced run or homestead area with a low-cost night shelter and clean drinking water. Vaccination against Newcastle disease (Ranikhet Newcastle Disease), fowl pox and infectious bursal disease is essential because the long, low-input grow-out exposes birds to a wide infection window. Kalinga Brown is distributed alongside Vanaraja (Vanaraja Rural Dual Purpose Chicken), Gramapriya, CARI Debendra (Cari Debendra Dual) and Giriraja (Giriraja Karnataka Rural) under state and central rural-poultry schemes. CPDO-ER also operates training programmes for entrepreneurs running mother units that brood day-old Kalinga Brown chicks for 4-6 weeks before selling them on as field-ready stock.

See also: Country Chicken Nattu Kodi, Self Mixed Poultry Feed, Open Poultry Shed.

References

  1. Kalinga Brown — Improved rural layer. Central Poultry Development Organisation, Eastern Region, Bhubaneswar.
  2. Improved rural poultry varieties. vikaspedia agriculture portal.