Kadaknath Egg Production, Egg Price, Health Benefits | Agri Farming (2023)

Introductionto egg production of Kadaknath and benefits:

Well, today we will discuss the black chicken eggs or egg production of Kadaknath.

TheKadaknath chickenor Kali masi is an Indian breed of chicken local to Jhabua and Dhar districts of eastern Madhya Pradesh, where it is called as “Kali masi” (“fowl having black flesh”). The breed is very popular for its good taste of meat production.

The Kadaknath is very popular usually for its adaptability and good-tasting black meat, which is believed to infuse vigor. Its color stems from melanin. Scientific data shows that the iron content in a Kadaknath chicken is nearly ten times than in an ordinary chicken. Kadaknath is the black meat chicken (bmc) bread of India. It’s a native bread of eastern Madhya Pradesh, reared by the tribes of Jabhuva district.

How to start Kadaknath Chicken Farming:

To startKadaknath Chicken Farmingfollow these below points;

• Select good breeds of Kadaknath birds.
• Make sure you bring day-old chicks with suitable vaccinations.
• Start with 30 to 50 Kadaknath birds and keep increasing the bird count as you gain the experience.
• Find out with the poultry department of Agriculture University for chicks and feed information.
• Some state government are providing incentives on these birds breeding, avail those advantages.
• For a couple of weeks, these require proper care and provide necessary shelter, light, water, and feed.
• Don’t start on a large scale without significant the poultry line of business.
• If you are starting a commercialKadaknath Chicken Farming, make sure you found a proper marketing channel.
• Follow the planned vaccination chart to avoid any diseases.

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The threat of extinction:

Due to the moderately high consumption of the breed, its numbers have sharply declined.

Save the Kadaknath breed from extinction, the state government started aKadaknath poultry breeding programinvolving 500 families from below the poverty line families, who were to obtain financial support and assistance in India.

Growth performance in Kadaknath breed of poultry:

Kadaknath is a very important indigenous breed of poultry main areas of Madhya Pradesh mostly the Jhabua and Dhar Districts and adjoining areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan. But because of indiscriminate crossbreeding with Rhode Island Red (RIR) and other breeds the pure Kadaknath birds are very rarely available in Dhar and adjoining areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan. At present, the Kadaknath birds are mainly obtainable in Jhabua District of Western Madhya Pradesh.

This Kadaknath breed has evolved through natural selection in indigenous agro-ecological conditions and is well adapted to the local environment. The Kadaknath birds reveal an important degree of resistance to diseases compared with exotic breeds of fowl in its natural habitat in free range. Kadaknath birds are resistant to extreme climates like the summer heat and cold winter stress and can thrive well below adverse environments like poor housing, poor feeding, and poor management. Since a long time, Kadaknath breed of poultry was reared by tribals or Adivasis (Bhils, Bhillalas, and others) and through many generations of selection and fixation of genes, some of the important breed characteristics had been established.

The newKadaknath breed productiontechnology has reduced the mortality rate from greater than 50%. Now you can expect to 10 to 12% of mortality, this enhanced the survival percentage and overall advantages in Kadaknath chicken farming. Because of high feed conversion ratio, these birds can gain body weight of 1.10 to 1.25 kg in 100 to 125 days. Kadaknath chickens can be reared related to country chicken or free range chicken. However, it may need little more care initially to grow in a controlled environment. Later they can be left liberally in open field. One can grow these birds in back yards. In fact, Kadaknath chickens are best appropriate for back yard farming rather growing on commercial scales.

Kadaknath chicken vaccination schedule:

There are mainly three recommended vaccines for Kadaknath chicken breed;

• F1 vaccine in the first-weekend (costs
• IBD vaccine in the second-weekend (costs
• RD vaccine in the sixth month

Updated vaccines are required for Kadaknath chicken breed good growth. Some main vaccines or medicines which are required for maintaining chicken’s good health are as follows;

1. When the chick is one day old then give HVT vaccination to protect them from Marek’s disease. The influence of this injection will remain up to 18 months.
2. When the chick is 4 to 7 days old give them RD vaccination (F1 strain) to protect them from Ranikhet disease. The influence of this injection will remain for 2 to 4 months.
3. When the chick is 18 to 21 days old give them IBD vaccination to protect them from Gumboro disease.
4. When the chick is 4 to 5 weeks old give them RD (F1 strain) vaccination to protect them from Ranikhet disease.
5. When the chick is 6 to 8 weeks old give them RD (F2B strain) vaccination to protect them from Ranikhet disease. 0.5ml of medicine is applied to the chick.
6. When the chick is 8 to 10 weeks old give them chicken pox vaccination to protect them from chicken pox disease.

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Kadaknath chicken color:

Black meat chicken: Poultry farming in Indiais a vast industry and it is generally classified into layer and broiler farming representing egg and meat production respectively. The breeds generally used in the field are a hybrid of exotic breeds of chicken. But here a special indigenous breed chicken of India calledKadaknath.

The Kadaknath birds are completely black. Kadaknath birds have black plumage with black legs and toenails. These birds have black beak and tongue, black comb and black wattles, black meat and bones, and even dark organs. This breed is found in Indonesia where it is known asCemani Chicken.

Why Kadaknath chicken is in black color?Kadaknath chicken is unique for its black color due to its black-feathers. Its black stems from the deposition of melanin pigment.

Kadaknath breed care:

Shelter and care:

ForKadaknath Chicken Farming, suitable land is selected in which maximum chick development and egg development takes place. The shelter must be at some height from the road so that rainwater will easily flow out and it will protect them from the flood. Freshwater supply should be there. It should have 24 hours of electricity supply. The chicken shelter should be away from the industrial and urban area because the fertilizer of chicken will pollute the environment and causes flies’ problem. Select the shelter which is free from noise as the noise problem will affect the production of birds. The smoke of factories will also affect the Kadaknath birds.

Care of newborn chicks:

Raising baby chicks requires good attention and an incubator. Eggs are placed in the incubator for about 21 days by giving proper temperature. After hatching, chicks can be removed from the incubator after 48 hours. Handling of chicks must be done carefully while taking out from the incubator. After taking out chicks from the incubator, they are positioned in the brooder. For the first week, the temperature of brooder must be 95 °F and it must be dropped by 5°F for every following week. Proper feed at proper should be given to chicks and clean water must be available every time in the brooder.

Production of Kadaknath egg

Kadaknath egg production depends on the bird’s age and other factors like feed and care. Kadaknath mainly produces on an average of 80 eggs per year. The average Kadaknath egg weight is 46.8g.

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Kadaknath egg price:

Why is Kadaknath egg costlier?A white leghorn hen is selectively bred to lay 320 to 330 eggs out of 365 days in a year, whereas Kadaknath hen lays around 120 to 130 eggs in a year taking the same quantity of feed as that of a white leghorn hen. So it’s obvious that the price has to be three times higher as that of a white egg. We can say, the egg production of Kadaknath is not that bad when compared to desi chickens or country chickens.

Kadaknath bird eggs are also nutritious. Therefore, the Kadaknath eggs cost will be approximately Rs 40 to 50 Rs/egg. It may vary region to region. If they are not pure Kadaknath eggs, they may cost less.

Kadaknath chicken price:

Why is Kadaknath chicken costlier?A broiler chicken gains 2.5 kg of body weight in 40 to 45 days. It nearly inflates like a balloon day-by-day. Its gene has been selected so that its work is to eat and get obese. Even if don’t kill a broiler chicken at 45 days of age it will die very soon due to obesity under intensive rearing farm condition. Kadaknath being a desi bird involves in several physical activities and its weight gain is “slow and steady”.

A Kadaknath attains body weight of 1.5kgs in 120 to 130 days. It takes nearly thrice the time to reach half the body weight of a broiler chicken. If you don’t kill it will live up to the age of 12 years getting a maximum of around 2kgs body weight only. So our cost of production is nearly 4 times higher than that of a broiler chicken.

Kadaknath birds have superb medicinal values. Therefore,

Kadaknath chicken costabout Rs 600 to 800/ Kilogram.

Kadaknath chicken benefits

Some of thebenefits of Kadaknath chickenwill be given below;

• Kadaknath chicken contains 25 to 27% of the protein in comparison with other breeds of chickens that contain 18% protein. It is known for its high iron content.
• Kadaknath has fat and cholesterol content lower compared with other chicken breeds. Due to these particular characteristics, Kadaknath chicken’s chicks and eggs are sold at a much higher rate than other varieties of chicken. This Kadaknath chicken breed is very popular among local tribal people mostly due to its adaptability to the local environment, disease resistance, meat quality, texture, and flavor.
• Protein content in Kadaknathis higher than 25%, whereas in an ordinary bird it varies between 18 to 20%.
• Kadaknath black chicken has lower cholesterol (0.73-1.05%) than white chicken (13-25%).
• This breed chicken having a number of vitamins b1, b2, b6, b12, c and e, niacin, protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, iron, nicotinic acid, etc.
• This chicken has high levels of 18 essential amino acids as well as hormones that are required by the human body.
• The amount of fat deposited in the body of a Kadaknath breed chicken is itself very negligible.
• It has great importance in Siddha and homeopathy medicines for treating the nervous disorder.

Kadaknath egg benefits:

Some of thebenefits of Kadaknath eggwill be given below;

• The Kadaknath eggs are an ideal nutritive and used for old people and high blood pressure victims since the cholesterol content is lower Rich in amino acids and higher than that of other kinds of poultry birds.
• Kadaknath breed eggs help to meet the day to day protein requirement of growing children.
• Theeggs of Kadaknathcan be used capably to treat severe headaches, faintness, asthma, and nephritis (acute or chronic inflammation of the kidney).

Hurdles in Kadaknath farming:

Inadequate availability of Kadaknath breed chicks and lack of proper financial support from government are posing the main hurdle. For better development of this breed, Local governments should give subsidies and loans to small scale farmers.

That’s all folks about the egg production of Kadaknath and it’s benefits. Keep raising chickens!.

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