Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken

Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken

The Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken is a geographical indication agricultural product.

　　The Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken is characterized by its small body size, mottled feathers, phoenix crown, green earlobes, feathered shanks, skirt feathers, mulberry comb, black skin, black bones, black meat, and black internal organs. This chicken is elegant in appearance and holds ornamental value. Its meat and eggs are of high quality and also offer health benefits, making it a rare poultry resource in China. The chicken has a delicate and broad head, with a purplish-red rose comb, mostly green rounded earlobes, brown irises, a short straight grayish-white beak, purplish-red triangular wattles, and brown shanks with four toes. The skin, muscles, and bones are dark brownish-black. Roosters have brightly colored, lustrous feathers; their primary wing feathers are black with a narrow yellowish edge along the left side, secondary wing feathers are reddish-brown, and tail and sickle feathers are black. The feathers on the back, chest, and abdomen are reddish-yellow. Hens come in two feather color types: mottled and light red, with mottled being more common. Their primary and tail feathers are black, and they have a tuft of black feathery crown on the top of their heads, adding to their ornamental appeal.

　　[Breed Type and Place of Origin]

　　Primarily produced in rural areas of Taining County and surrounding parts of Jiangle, Jianning, Shaowu, and some townships in Lichuan County, Jiangxi. It is named Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken due to the prominent phoenix crown on its head.

　　1. Main Characteristics: The Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken is characterized by its small body size, mottled feathers, phoenix crown, green earlobes, feathered shanks, skirt feathers, mulberry comb, black skin, black bones, black meat, and black internal organs. This chicken is elegant in appearance and holds ornamental value. Its meat and eggs are of high quality and also offer health benefits, making it a rare poultry resource in China. The chicken has a delicate and broad head, with a purplish-red rose comb, mostly green rounded earlobes, brown irises, a short straight grayish-white beak, purplish-red triangular wattles, and brown shanks with four toes. The skin, muscles, and bones are dark brownish-black. Roosters have brightly colored, lustrous feathers; their primary wing feathers are black with a narrow yellowish edge along the left side, secondary wing feathers are reddish-brown, and tail and sickle feathers are black. The feathers on the back, chest, and abdomen are reddish-yellow. Hens come in two feather color types: mottled and light red, with mottled being more common. Their primary and tail feathers are black, and they have a tuft of black feathery crown on the top of their heads, adding to their ornamental appeal.

　　2. Conservation Method: Conservation is carried out through the establishment of conservation farms at the place of origin, and the National Local Chicken Gene Pool (Jiangsu) introduced the breed in 2001 for off-site preservation.

　　[Production Performance]

　　1. Adult Weight and Meat Production: Average weight of adult chickens: roosters 1470 grams, hens 1215 grams. Semi-eviscerated slaughter rate: roosters 93.58%, hens 92.17%; fully eviscerated slaughter rate: roosters 76.58%, hens 74.85%.

　　2. Reproductive Performance: Average age at first egg is 170 days, average annual egg production is 85.6 eggs, average egg weight is 41 grams, eggshell color is light tan-white. Breeding ratio of roosters to hens is 1:8–12. Average fertilized egg hatchability is 81.9%, and average incubation rate is 69%. Hens have strong brooding tendencies.

　　[Development and Utilization]

　　Taking advantage of Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken being honored as a “Fine Local Breed” in Fujian Province, Taining County actively attracted outside investors to boost the Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken industry. In 2002, Taining established a Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken conservation and breeding farm and founded the Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken Co., Ltd., promoting chicken farming among local farmers via a “company + farmer” model to expand production scale. “Xifeng Poultry Industry Co., Ltd.” built a Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken breeding expansion farm, producing about 3 million chicks annually and processing and selling 2 million mature chickens.

　　The Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken is primarily produced in rural areas of Taining County and surrounding parts of Jiangle, Jianning, Shaowu, and some townships in Lichuan County, Jiangxi.

　　Average weight of adult Jinhu Black Phoenix Chickens: roosters 1470 grams, hens 1215 grams. Semi-eviscerated slaughter rate: roosters 93.58%, hens 92.17%; fully eviscerated slaughter rate: roosters 76.58%, hens 74.85%.

　　Average age at first egg is 170 days, average annual egg production is 85.6 eggs, average egg weight is 41 grams, eggshell color is light tan-white. Breeding ratio of roosters to hens is 1:8–12. Average fertilized egg hatchability is 81.9%, and average incubation rate is 69%. Hens have strong brooding tendencies.

　　Place of Origin: Taining

　　Product Introduction:

　　A protected poultry breed. As early as the Song Dynasty, farmers in Fujian raised these chickens sporadically in orchards, bamboo forests, and home gardens, feeding them mainly grains. This chicken is small in size, with a tall tuft of silky feathers behind the comb resembling a noblewoman’s hat. It features the “three blacks” (black skin, bones, and meat) and is known as “Black Phoenix Chicken” for its attractive appearance. It is an organic food that is both edible and medicinal, rich in protein and low in fat, with tender meat and delicious flavor. Locals regard it as a delicacy, using it to entertain guests or to nourish new mothers. In 1997, the county’s animal husbandry and fisheries bureau purchased 47 Black Phoenix Chickens from local farmers for purification and breeding, laying the foundation for industrial development. Currently, it can supply one million chicks and 400,000 mature chickens per year.

　　Geographical Scope

　　The protected geographical indication area for the Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken includes Taining County, Fujian Province, with geographic coordinates between 116°53′–117°24′ east longitude and 26°34′–27°08′ north latitude. The main production areas are nine towns at elevations of 300–800 meters, including Shangqing, Zhukou, Meikou, Xiaqu, and Dalong, covering a total area of 1,539 square kilometers. In 2010, the county produced 1.2 million chickens, with details of all farming operations provided in Appendix 1.

　　Product Quality and Characteristic Features

　　1. Product Quality Characteristics: The Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken is a rare small-sized, dual-purpose mottled-feather black chicken breed in China, certified by the National Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Committee in 2009. Under Taining’s unique ecological environment, and through over a thousand years of natural and artificial selection combined with traditional rearing methods, it has developed biological traits such as strong wildness, foraging ability, adaptability, tolerance to coarse feed, disease resistance, and suitability for forest grazing. It features genetic traits such as mottled feathers, phoenix crown, green earlobes, mulberry comb, feathered shanks, black skin, black bones, and black meat. It is a high-protein, low-fat, low-cholesterol food rich in vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids, with high medicinal and economic value. The Jinhu Black Phoenix Chicken has the typical “three black” characteristics: Black Skin — the entire skin, eyes, face, beak, shanks, and toes are black, though the extent may vary slightly by individual. Black Meat — the muscle tissue is slightly dark, and all internal organs are black. Black Bones — the bone and periosteum are blackish. 2. Product Safety Technical Indicators: Live poultry and product safety technical indicators follow the “Pollution-Free Agricultural Product Growing Environment Standards.”