Raising ornamental chickens is a lot of work.

Although it is a hobby that requires investment in both money and care, over the years, ornamental chickens have attracted many Quang Tri people to participate because of their passion and love. This movement has created a healthy playground, contributing to preserving and spreading purebred Vietnamese chicken breeds.

In addition to playing Tan Chau bantam chickens, Mr. Bui Manh Dung also owns pairs of Onagadori chickens with long, smooth tail feathers - Photo: LE TRUONG

These days, Mr. Nguyen Duc Thong in Quarter 5, Gio Linh town seems to be busier with taking care of and styling his Tan Chau bantam chickens to prepare for the "Beauty of Tan Chau ornamental chickens" contest held in Phu Tho province this coming March. As a passionate person who started raising ornamental chickens since 2015, Mr. Thong has brought his chickens to many contests and won high prizes.

Mr. Thong shared: “Because of my passion, I have researched many breeds of chickens to play with. When I learned about Tan Chau bantam chickens, I was really conquered by their colorful feathers, thick, long tails. From then on, I started looking for breeding chickens, learning about chicken raising experiences in forums and many provinces and cities in the North and South. To serve this hobby, I have to spend a lot of effort, from breeding, caring, cleaning the barn to daily training, which also takes a lot of time.”

According to Mr. Thong, to be eligible to participate in competitions, Tan Chau bantam chickens must be carefully selected from the breeding process through many generations, the breeder must be meticulous from the nutritional diet to the qualified coop. In addition to supplementing vegetables, bran, rice... chickens need to be fed with vitamins, proteins such as worms, crickets, beef, fish, vegetables, grass, tomatoes... Particularly, the coop must have enough light, have a floor, and hang a bridge to ensure that the chicken's feathers do not break when moving.

“The beauty of a chicken is due to its feathers. Therefore, every day, Tan Chau bantam chickens must be bathed and sunbathed. In addition, chicken players must pay attention to the chicken’s comb, beak and eyes to ensure they are compact and proportional to the feathers. However, the most important thing to note is that near the time of the competition, the chickens selected for the competition must weigh no more than 1.1 kg, and must not have their combs, ears, wattles, tails, or feathers adjusted, dyed, or connected to be eligible to compete,” Mr. Thong added.

Also a person passionate about ornamental creatures, for many years, Mr. Bui Manh Dung in Dong Ha City has devoted a lot of enthusiasm, time and money to investing in raising ornamental chickens, especially the Tan Chau bantam chicken breed. According to Mr. Dung, raising ornamental chickens sounds simple, but to create a satisfactory "fighting chicken", the player must invest. Regarding the Tan Chau bantam chicken breed, it is a breed of chicken crossbred from Tan Chau jungle fowl (An Giang province) with Japanese bantam chicken, when domesticated through many generations, it forms the beautiful chicken breed as it is today.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Thong takes care of Tan Chau bantam chicken farm - Photo: LE TRUONG

Currently, after a period of research, study and search for ornamental chicken breeds all over the country, Mr. Dung has built a small chicken farm with all the famous chicken breeds. Among them, we must mention the Onagadori chicken breed originating from Japan, this is a precious chicken breed in the land of the rising sun with a long, shiny tail. Or the Brahma chicken breeds from America, African Star chicken, Silver Fish Scale from England, Mini Cochin chicken originating from North America. Mr. Dung is most proud of the "fighting chickens" of the Tan Chau bantam chicken breed, which he takes care of with all his passion for pure Vietnamese ornamental chicken breeds. In addition to famous ornamental chicken breeds, Mr. Dung also owns a unique collection of ornamental creatures with peacocks, pheasants, ostriches, turkeys...

Mr. Dung shared: “Raising and caring for ornamental chickens is much more difficult than traditional chickens, because, for ornamental chickens, in addition to survival, the most important thing is the beauty of their smooth feathers, graceful gait, and especially the crowing sound and the closeness between the breeder and the fighting chicken. Therefore, in addition to a special diet, Tan Chau bantam chickens and many other ornamental chicken breeds need to be raised in barns with fan systems, cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. In addition, it is necessary to spend a lot of time training them to be close to people and training the chickens to follow your will by creating sounds from snapping your fingers.”

According to Mr. Dung, a beautiful chicken must meet the standards of balanced shape, agile demeanor, and a "damp horse", meaning the horse feathers are located below the wings and the mane feathers on the neck are long, covering almost the entire neck. In particular, the tail feathers must be long but balanced, softly curved and not connected... If a "fighting cock" has feathers of many different colors and is strong, it will have an advantage in scoring points when participating in competitions.

With a shared passion for ornamental chickens, for many years now, the Quang Tri ornamental chicken club has been established in the province with the desire to create a playground and an opportunity for ornamental chicken breeders to exchange experiences in caring for and breeding many colors for the future chickens to be beautiful and have the desired qualities.

As the Chairman of the Quang Tri Ornamental Chicken Club, Mr. Dung confided that since its establishment, the club members have actively participated in the "Beauty of Tan Chau Ornamental Chicken" competitions nationwide and won many major awards. However, due to many factors, maintaining the club's activities is currently facing many difficulties. However, the exchange and interaction of "addicts" of ornamental chickens in the province is still maintained on holidays and Tet and the club members are still participating in major competitions nationwide.

The fascination with the majestic appearance, colorful feathers and gentle crowing of ornamental chickens in general and Tan Chau bantam chickens in particular is the motivation for people like Mr. Dung and Mr. Thong to be willing to invest effort, time and money to create their own "fighting chickens". For them, raising ornamental chickens with enthusiasm and passion will bring relaxation, because this is not only a hobby but also contributes significantly to the preservation and development of beautiful chicken breeds, especially purebred Vietnamese chickens.

Le Truong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/thu-choi-ga-canh-lam-cong-phu-191712.htm