Yanchi Tan Chicken Eggs

Yanchi Tan Chicken Eggs

Yanchi Tan Chicken Eggs are a product with a geographical indication for agricultural products.

　　The Yanchi grassland free-range chicken industry in Yanchi County emerged as a new sector under the conditions of mountain closure and grazing bans. Yanchi boasts the largest area of usable grassland in the entire autonomous region, totaling 7.147 million mu. After the grazing ban was implemented, the natural grassland vegetation recovered significantly, but the grassland ecosystem remains fragile, and the conditions for lifting the ban are not yet ripe. In response, Yanchi County has actively adjusted its livestock development strategy by implementing measures such as keeping sheep in pens and moving chickens to the grasslands. The county has focused on supporting the free-range chicken farming industry, leading to its rapid growth and expansion. In 2003, the county had only 180,000 free-range chickens, but by 2006, the number of farmers raising free-range chickens had reached 25,000, with over 2.8 million chickens being raised and a net profit of more than 5.6 million yuan. This year, Yanchi County will continue to strengthen policy support, comprehensively advance the implementation of the free-range chicken farming project, enhance organizational coordination and fund management, and provide a subsidy of 0.5 yuan per chick raised by farmers. These subsidies will be directly distributed to farmers through the “one-” system, greatly boosting farmers’ confidence in raising free-range chickens. At the same time, to improve the breed of Yanchi Tan chickens, the county’s Animal Husbandry Bureau, through the regional animal husbandry station, introduced five high-quality local chicken breeds from Xi’an, Henan, Jiangsu, and Guangdong. These new breeds were comprehensively evaluated based on adaptability, production performance, flavor, and economic benefits, thereby supporting the rapid development of the Yanchi Tan chicken industry and establishing it as a distinctive and advantageous sector that increases farmers’ income.

　　Yanchi County is located in the eastern part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in the transitional zone between the Ordos Plateau and the Loess Plateau, between 106°33′–107°47′ east longitude and 37°04′–38°10′ north latitude, with an average elevation of 1,600 meters. It spans approximately 66 kilometers from east to west and about 110 kilometers from north to south. To the east it borders Dingbian in Shaanxi Province, to the south it neighbors Huan County in Gansu Province, to the north it connects with Otog Front Banner in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and to the west it links with Lingwu and Tongxin, two cities (counties) within the region. The production area for Yanchi Tan chickens is widespread across all eight towns and townships in the county, covering a total area of 726,000 hectares. There are 200,000 laying hens producing 960 tons of Tan chicken eggs annually. Large-scale farming is mainly concentrated in the central-northern towns of Huamachi, Gaosawo, Fengjigou, Qingshan, and Wanglejing.