Searching for the 'Kingdom' of 9-spur chickens in Vietnam

The road to the village is difficult, but to get to the chicken farm, the road is many times more difficult with slopes, potholes, and ancient trees crossing.

The 9-spur chicken breed has been raised here for a long time, but due to the isolated life, people did not know that it was a rare chicken. "It was not until around 2000, when the road was opened to the commune and information was spread, that people knew," said Ms. Ha Thi Hien, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Xuan Son Commune.

The 9-spur chickens originate from jungle fowls, so they fly and run very well. In particular, this breed of chicken can only live in a semi-wild environment. Every morning, the chicken farmers feed them and then release them into the forest. At night, the chickens return by themselves and sleep in the trees.

Because they are raised in a semi-wild manner and do not use industrial feed, chickens often grow slowly, taking a year to reach 1.2-1.5 kg. Chickens achieve the highest quality meat when raised for 2 years or more.

In return, raising 9-spur chickens is quite easy, not much different from native chickens, they have few diseases.

However, according to local people, if they are not kept in cages, even if they are well cared for, chickens will still become thin and die.

Due to the high economic value of the breed, the number of chickens in Xuan Son commune has now increased to 2,500. Almost every household raises 1-2 chickens, some farms raise 200 chickens.

The 9-spur chicken breed is small in size and usually weighs no more than 1.5 kg. The characteristic of this breed is that its legs are large, strong and have 3-4 spurs on each side. Chickens with all 9 spurs are very rare. Most chickens only have 7-8 spurs.

Chickens are raised in a natural grazing method, mainly on hills to dig for worms, crickets, and insects. Therefore, although they grow slowly, the quality of their meat is very delicious.

On some online shopping sites, the price of 9-spur chickens is being advertised at nearly 300,000 VND/kg for parents, and about 250,000 VND per chick. However, according to some experienced people, the price of purebred 9-spur chickens is not that low.

At the 2016 Spring Fair, chickens with 7-8 spurs from Tan Son were sold for 450,000 VND/kg. Chickens with 9 spurs alone cost up to 30 million VND each. Tan Son is also a place that appears on the list of the 62 poorest districts in the country according to Resolution 30a.

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