Assessment of distribution and appearance characteristics of Long Xuoc chicken in Ha Giang province
The objective of the study is to evaluate the distribution and appearance characteristics of Long Xuoc chickens in Ha Giang province, thereby having a basis for selecting Long Xuoc chickens with specific appearance characteristics for the purpose of breeding exploit and develop genetic resources of this chicken breed. Survey on 216 households raising Long Xuoc chickens in 4 upland communes (Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van, Meo Vac) found that: scale ≥ 10-20 chickens/household was most commonly raised (43.06%), followed by size <10 chickens/household (32.87%), > 20-30 chickens/household accounting for 22.22%; Only 1.85% raise with the scale ≥ 30 chickens/household; The main method of raising is grazing (97.37%), with cages (88.43%) with materials for making cages is bamboo and neohouzeaua (78.53%); The source of food for Long Xuoc chickens is mainly from agricultural production: broken corn, paddy, rice bran (93.06%), very few (6.48%) households use mixed feed with home-made feed (broken corn, paddy) and only 0.46% of households use mixed feed for scratched chicken. Adult Long Xuoc chickens have basic physical characteristics: The male has dark yellow head, neck, back, chest purple, black tail (79.69%), female has dry banana leaf color (79.45%), the rest has light yellow hair, white, black, mixed. The feathers of the rooster and the hen are scratched all over the body. Most roosters and hens have a crest pattern (85.94% and 83.56%) with the main magenta color (87.50% and 91.78%). The skin of the long xuoc chicken feet is lead-colored, and a few are white.
