Betong Chicken Raising in Southern Thailand A Preliminary

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Chanjula, P. and K. Pattamarakha. 2002. Betong chicken raising in Southern Thailand: A Preliminary Survey. J. ISSAAS. 8(2): 14-24. INTRODUCTION Chickens are small domestic animals raised all over the world, mainly for consumption of their meat and eggs. Native poultry production is an alternative to imported meat, thus reducing the need for imports. In southern Thailand there are several varieties of native poultry such as Nake-nick chicken, Kawchang Chicken, Black skin chicken and Thapaow Thong chicken. The Betong chicken is a very popular species which is found in the lower zone of southern Thailand. The name “Betong” is derived from the name of a district in Yala province, and originated from the Langshans variety in China, Brought by Chinese immigrants (Oboon and Vetchbutsakorn, 1994). The population of Betong chickens is small, but the breed is common in some parts of the south, expecially in Yala province. The nature body weight is 2.0 – 2.5 kg. For makes and 1.5–1.8 kg. For females. The down of the chicks is whitish-yellow in color, and the feather are slow to appear. At four weeks of age, the chicks still have relatively few primaries and secondaries, and these are narrower and shorter than those of the other native varieties. Young chicks also show no development of the tail feathers. When the Betong chicken reaches adulthood, only 4- 8 secondary wing feathers have developed, and the tail feathers are still short. The males have reddish-yellow plumage and the females whitish-yellow. There is some white on the web of the primaries and the rectories of the female. The skin color is similar to that of other Thai native chickens, but the comb is a single type. The females are broody. The Betong chicken has a much higher growth rate than other native chickens, usually showing twice the weight over the first 8 weeks. After 16 weeks the Betong chickens average 2.5 kg. Whereas native breeds average 2.1 kg. or less. It also has other advantages, such as being able to stand the hot climate and being able to thrive on a low quality of feed (Gongruttananum and Chotesangasa, 1996). Chanjula (1998) found that during the Chinese festival demand for the Betong chicken was high as the Chinese would use this kind of chicken for the ritual ancestor ceremony. During this celebration, the price of the live Betong is between 100 – 252 baht per kg. but if the chicken is pre-prepared, the price goes up to 700 – 800 baht. Food shops or restaurants use a lot of the Betong chicken each day; demand is greater than supply and because of this many fear that if the supply does not increase the Betong chicken will soon be extent. Preservation is obviously needed. This study aimed to investigate the Betong chicken raising practices by farmers, marketing and future trends, and associated problems of production. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patani, Yala and Nara thiwat provinces in southern Thailand were selected as the study area since there are many farmers who raise Betong chickens in this region. Simple random sampling was assigned for sample selection and personal interviews were employed as the method of data collection. Interviews started at the beginning of February 2000 and lasted until the end of May 2000. Two hundred and thirty two farmers were interviewed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Characteristics of the interviewed farmers Most of the respondents (77.2%) were male and married. The average age was 40.2 years. One – half (50.0%) had formal education between Grade 4 and Grade 7 and about one – third at the Grade 10 level. Most were literate. Rubber plantations and orchards were regarded as major occupations while Betong production was regarded as a minor occupation. The average income from major and minor occupations were 36,000 D/R/P-R/betongAJAS45 2
Chanjula, P. and K. Pattamarakha. 2002. Betong chicken raising in Southern Thailand: A Preliminary Survey. J. ISSAAS. 8(2): 14-24. and 8,000 baht per family per year respectively. About three – fourths of farmers had a status of land tenure as owner. A few rented the land. The farm size was small, averaging 12 rai (1 ha = 6.25 rai). About 30% of farmers used their land for animal raising, especially cattle and Betong chickens. Experience and reasons for raising Betong chicken Most farmers (85.3%) had raised other species of poultry such as native breeds, layers, broilers, etc, but mostly native species. A few started raising the Betong chicken before 1977 and between 1977 – 1986 but most started in recent years. Major reasons for raising were due to consumption, enjoyable to raise, for sale and conservation. Sources of Betong to start raising were from friends, local merchants, public agencies, and relatives (Table 1). The average number of hens, cocks and chicks was 5, 2 and 10, respectively, per family. The average number of eggs from each hatching was about 12. After hatching the average number of survivors was 10, of which an average of 8 would survive to adulthood. Housing and feeding practices Most farmers had a chicken house for raising Betong chickens separate from their dwelling (Table 2). They raised chickens in both chicken houses and free range. For feeding practices, a few provided concentrate only but most preferred to use a combination of concentrate and house scraps or feedstuff in order to reduce the cost of production. A small pond was the usual source of water. Health practices Most farmers (>90%) did not experience Bethong mortality (Table 3). Major causes of normality where experienced were disease and accidents. Betong chickens are not well adapted to the rainy season. About two – thirds of farmers (66.4%) used vaccination for prevention of disease. When the Betong chickens were ill they would usually contact the veterinarian for help but some developed their own treatments if they knew how to do so. A few sought assistance from a neighbor if they lived close together. The chick stage was the most prone to diseases followed by the grower stage. When the chickens died most farmers (88.8%) simply buried them. Selection and breeding Many methods were developed for selection. Simply selecting the biggest female was the most popular method, as farmers had many to choose from. Those who did not have many bought them from others or borrowed breeders from public agencies, friends or relatives (Table 4). The 66 farmers who did not practice selection claimed that they lacked knowledge for selection, that their chickens were too young, that they had only a few chickens, or that they produced for home consumption. For breeding method, mating naturally was prevalent although it was not recommended, possibly due to the fact that farmers did not know how to breed selectively, but let the chickens mate naturally. Only 17.7% of farmers felt that they could prepare and mange the chickens properly for breeding by themselves. Others requested the veterinarian or friends to take charge. Time spent for raising for breeders varied from one to four years but most agreed three years was a reasonable time for raising breeders (which should be 1 – 2 years according to best practices). Some farmers were still unclear about this. D/R/P-R/betongAJAS45 3
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Betong Chicken Raising in Southern Thailand A Preliminary

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