For the first time poultry farmers in Ri Bhoi district were introduced to Kadaknath an Indian breed of chicken also known as Kali Masi (fowl having black flesh) by the ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
Around 11 farmers were invited to attend the distribution programme yesterday wherein 334 Kadaknath breed were distributed to the farmers along with 18 kg of mineral mixture.
Dr M Mokidul Islam, Principal Scientist & Head KVK handed over the two-week old chicks to selected farmers of the district.
These selected farmers are already having experience of rearing other poultry breed also and therefore they won’t be having any problem when it come to this new and important breed from their nutritional value, Islam said.
Bankitkupar Mukhim, SMS Fishery Science gave an elaborate and thorough description of the breed. He said Kadaknath breed performs better than local poultry in term of egg production and also in term of their nutritional value.
Mukhim informed farmers that the breed has protein content which is more than 25 per cent while in ordinary poultry birds it varies between 18-20 per cent.
He also informed the farmers that as per a research this species has lower cholesterol (0.73-1.05%) than white chicken (13-25%), high level of 18 amino acids out of which eight are essential for the human and rich in hormone, 18 amino acids out of which eight are essential for the human and rich in hormone.
During the program 30kg of oat fodder variety, Kentwere were also distributed to dairy farmers for them to feed their cattle during winter and lean season.