DOST Secretary Commends CSU’s Native Black Chicken Project

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato T. Dela Pena lauded a team of CSU researchers led by Dr. Tomas M. Austral, Jr. for the development of Caraga black native chicken through breeding and selection as potential niche product of Caraga region.

News of CSU’s “black chicken” landed in the national newspaper where the DOST Secretary mentioned that despite of the pandemic’s restrictions, CSU has initially established 124 quality breeder stocks of Caraga black native chicken. It has a potential to be marketed as a healthy meat product.

The Caraga Black Native Chicken also locally known as “patani chicken” has a unique morphological characteristic, distinct taste, leanness, greyish black pigmentation, and resilient to climate change condition in Caraga and can perform good quality traits. It can be eaten in ways regular chicken are consumed. The black skin color can be associated to higher pigmentation and higher anti-oxidant level present in this chicken and has potential of nutraceutical properties which can be attributed to its higher marketability and value.

This R&D project generally aspires to establish a sustainable breeding-true to-type Caraga black native chicken with at least 80% uniformity in meat and skin color. It specifically aims to: establish phenotypic characteristics of Caraga black native chicken; establish breeding, selection and hatchery management technologies suited to the Caraga black native chicken and to the most common farming systems in Caraga region; establish 500 head flock size in each station of breeding-true-to type foundation native chicken breeder stocks of Caraga black native chicken with at least 80% uniformity in meat and skin color, improved and predictable performance and product quality; transfer initial 2,000 heads quality breeder stock 7 to private partner entrepreneurs/farmers; develop practical and cost-efficient free range native chicken feeding and management system suited to the resources in the area; and develop free-range production module suited to farm conditions in the area.

Among those who will benefit from the project are the native chicken raisers in Caraga Region and nearby provinces; native chicken domestic and institutional consumers; faculty, researchers, students, NGO’s, Cooperatives and other organizations who wish to engage in native chicken production; and native chicken enthusiast in the Province and in the Region.

The project has established a noble true-to- type Caraga Black Native Chicken foundation stocks for the F2 generation which will lead 80% uniformity of Caraga Black Native Chicken through breeding and selection and expected to purify 80% uniformity this coming June 2021. The researchers gathered the data from the original stocks to foundation stocks in terms of phenotypic characteristics, egg production, hatchability, egg quality (egg shell and color).

The breeding facility (housing, incubator and hatcher) has been established in Caraga State University and the Department of Agriculture – Trento, Research Experimental Station, Agusan del Sur. CSU has forged collaboration with DOST 13 Regional Office and DA 13.

Further studies are made on appropriate feeding protocol, pilot testing and commercialization, product development – value chain approach, meat quality and its nutrition facts, animal behaviour, adaptation and mitigation in climate change (i.e. GHG emission of native chicken), and genomic sequencing. ORGS/PICO