Bamboo Grove Free-Range Chicken

Bamboo Grove Free-Range Chicken

　　　　Product Name: Bamboo Grove Free-Range Chicken

　　Product Origin: Deqing County, Huzhou

　　Product Features: Tender texture, delicious taste, fragrant broth, rich in aroma, highly nutritious.

　　Product Composition: High in protein, also contains fat, vitamins, and minerals.

　　Product Benefits: According to experts, regularly eating green free-range chicken products can promote longevity. Stewed Bamboo Grove Chicken with Ginkgo clears heat, relieves summer heat, and nourishes without causing dryness.

　　Product Introduction: Nanlu Township, Moganshan Town, and Fatao Township in Deqing County are located in the northwest of the county, at the foot of Mount Moganshan. The free-range chicken variety "Haixing King" from these three western townships is raised in high-altitude areas, with an average elevation of over 600 meters. It is adjacent to the nationally renowned Moganshan Scenic Area. The chickens are free-range birds raised among bamboo forests and grasslands, fattened on wild grasses and insects. They are completely natural and "green." The raising period is about 135 days, with reddish feathers and a body weight not exceeding 1.5 kilograms. The chickens are free-range, mainly fed on corn, rice, wild fruits from the mountains, and insects. When cooked, the chicken has a tender yellow skin and a unique flavor.

　　Product History: Native chickens are found in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hainan Island in China. Their appearance is very similar to the Chinese domestic chickens currently raised in rural areas, except that the roosters have longer tail feathers that droop slightly downward, making them hard to distinguish unless closely observed. The native chicken, also called the Red Junglefowl, lives in tropical rainforests in the south and is often active in farmland near villages, sometimes mingling with domestic chickens while foraging. They are extremely shy and wary of humans, with keen hearing and vision. At the slightest abnormality, they will fly into the forest or flee quickly. Their activities follow a regular pattern—they feed and drink at dawn and dusk, hide in cool, shaded forest areas to rest and take dust baths during the hot midday. The call of the male Red Junglefowl is similar to that of a domestic rooster but ends more abruptly, sounding like "two camellia blossoms," which is why locals in Yunnan also call it the "Camellia Chicken." Breeding begins in February. Nests are built on the ground in depressions, laying eggs once or twice a year, with 4–8 eggs per clutch, up to as many as 12. Only the female incubates the eggs, while the male forages and feeds her.

　　China has a long history of domesticating the Red Junglefowl. As early as the Neolithic Age, fossils of chicken bones were excavated from the Longshan Culture sites, with a domestication history of at least three thousand years. In recent years, due to unplanned deforestation, the habitat of native chickens has been greatly damaged, significantly affecting their reproduction. Coupled with indiscriminate hunting, their numbers have declined. To prevent the extinction of native chickens, the Red Junglefowl has now been listed as a Class II protected animal in China.