In 2024, the number of Tien Yen chickens sold is estimated to reach 1.36 million, an increase of 6.3% over the same period. Every year, the number of commercial chickens increases, but it comes with challenges. How to consume that number of chickens? If we only develop chicken farming, will consumers be interested forever while many other localities also develop chicken flocks and bring them to Quang Ninh for consumption, competing in all aspects?
Raising chickens under the mangrove canopy
Recently, I went to Tien Yen district to learn about bringing Tien Yen chicken to serve the Tet market. A leader told a story, once he went to Hanoi to market Tien Yen chicken, a partner said: Tien Yen chicken is more expensive than chicken from other localities, so when we import it, we have to sell it at a higher price. So what reason do customers have to spend more money to buy Tien Yen chicken, while they buy chicken from other localities with the same weight but cheaper price. If we explain that Tien Yen chicken is more delicious, will we be able to convince everyone, because everyone has a different taste?
The partner's comments made the leader of Tien Yen district have many thoughts and worries. If we simply follow the low-cost market, people will raise chickens carelessly, with the sole purpose of making chickens grow quickly, which will reduce the quality of chicken meat, affecting food safety and hygiene. But to compete fairly, we cannot simply follow the old ways, we need to innovate even in the way we raise and process chickens.
One of the places that has innovated in raising chickens is in Hai Lang commune, where there are many mangrove forests and chickens are raised under the mangrove canopy. Through research, it is known that Hai Lang has 11 households raising chickens along the beach, especially the households do not need to fence the cages, because the chickens are raised almost isolated on the beach, above which are the households' natural hills, so that the chickens can climb freely to find food. Accompanying Hai Lang commune officials, we visited the breeding facility of Mr. Ly Viet Phuc in Binh Minh village. Mr. Phuc owns a vast land area including 8 hectares of beach and 7.8 hectares of hills. What is special is that with such a large hill area, Mr. Phuc did not cut down the natural trees to plant acacia like other households assigned forests, but he kept the natural hills intact to raise chickens.
Mr. Phuc raises nearly 20,000 chickens/year. With such a huge number of chickens, he still does not have enough to sell to restaurants during Tet, because even on normal days, a large supermarket in Hanoi has ordered a large quantity of commercial chickens from his family, up to 1,500 chickens/month. Although Mr. Phuc's farm is located far from residential areas, it seems that chicken consumption does not make Mr. Phuc worried. During Tet, not only supermarkets but also coal industry production units come to him to buy chickens as Tet gifts for their workers.
The number of chickens Mr. Phuc raises is dozens of times more than other households in the area, but he is still "calm as a cucumber" because he raises chickens that both run on the hills and forage under the mangrove canopy. At the foot of the natural forest hills are beaches with mangrove forests, which are home to many types of clams, crabs, shrimp, prawns, and small fish. When the tide is low, many natural products brought in by the sea remain on the beach, becoming food for the chickens. Mr. Phuc said: Chickens raised on the beach are very healthy, have fewer diseases, and grow faster than chickens raised only on land. Because every time the tide goes up and down, the beach is cleaned and the seawater has a high antiseptic ability, killing many types of harmful bacteria, helping the chickens stay healthy.
When chickens go out to forage every day, their bodies become firmer and their meat more flavorful. On the other hand, when chickens are allowed to graze naturally, they will find their own food, thereby significantly reducing the amount of money Mr. Phuc invests in feed for his chickens each year compared to other households that raise chickens but only keep them in captivity. His chickens are sold at a more competitive price on the market, attracting more customers.
Developing herbal chicken flock
In livestock farming, to prevent diseases in chickens, many farmers still abuse antibiotics, causing consumers to worry. So the question arises, how to not need antibiotics, but still have healthy chickens, to improve the quality of chicken meat and ensure safety for consumers.
Tien Yen has a very large forest area, including cinnamon forests. In the whole district, there are 7 communes growing cinnamon with a total area of 857.31 hectares, mostly in Dai Duc, Ha Lau, Phong Du communes. Of which, the largest cinnamon area is Dai Duc commune with 400.99 hectares, accounting for 46.8% of the total cinnamon growing area in the district. Cinnamon bark has long been considered a natural medicine. Tien Yen also has many wild plants such as the single needle tree that grows naturally scattered in many areas in the area, this is a large source of herbs to supplement chicken feed.
From October 2023 to December 2024, Tien Yen district has a Project on Applying Herbal Supplement Diets to Improve Meat Quality and Efficiency of Raising Commercial Tien Yen Chickens. The project is implemented between Tien Yen district and representatives of the research team implementing the project of the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture, with the district People's Committee as the investor. Thereby, 100 livestock facilities in the district were selected from facilities with large livestock areas of more than 3,000m2 - 8,000m2 and raising thousands of chickens/facility, participating in the initial trial. The project is implemented by grinding cinnamon into powder and mixing it into chicken feed at a rate of 2%, applied to chickens 13 weeks of age and older. After 1 year of testing, according to the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, chickens raised using this method have better disease resistance, are less susceptible to respiratory and digestive diseases, grow faster, have reduced fat content but still retain the characteristic aroma of Tien Yen chicken, and reduce the cost of antibiotics, making consumers more secure when using chicken meat.
At the end of December 2024, the "Project on Applying Herbal Supplement Diets to Improve Meat Quality and Efficiency of Commercial Tien Yen Chicken Farming" was appraised by the People's Committee of Tien Yen District and representatives of the research team implementing the project of the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture. Here, the project was highly appreciated by delegates for its feasibility and concluded that it could be piloted and replicated. The members of the Appraisal Council conducted an evaluation vote, with 100% of the votes agreeing to evaluate the project as meeting its set tasks.
Speaking at the conference, Comrade Vi Quoc Phuong, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, Chairman of the Appraisal Council, requested the host unit to quickly complete the project based on the consultation of the reviewer representative so that the project can be applied, deployed and replicated in the district. He also requested relevant units to register the results of the research demonstration with the Department of Science and Technology of Quang Ninh province to soon grant scientific certification, on that basis the host unit will hand over the project research results to the investor for deployment and replication. In the coming time, the communes need to step up propaganda and mobilization to apply the project into practice to improve the meat quality and breeding efficiency of commercial Tien Yen chickens in the district, increasing income for people.
Thus, from the Lunar New Year 2025 onwards, on the trays of diners loyal to Tien Yen chicken, the chicken dish has now "changed its skin" but still retains the flavor of Tien Yen chicken, is somewhat richer and especially the chicken is naturally healthy, not abused with antibiotics.
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