Mentioning Cai Chien island commune, Quang Ninh, tourists not only mention a pristine island with long sandy beaches, clear blue sea water, and fresh climate, they also mention chickens with long characteristic feathers growing under the chin like beards - a unique feature that creates the brand for the specialty chicken breed here.
This is also the breed of chicken chosen by the locality to organize the "Cai Chien Mustache Chicken Miss" contest during the Cai Chien communal house - temple festival.
The contest attracted the participation of livestock households in the area, contributing to honoring and vividly promoting the typical products of the island commune, creating a highlight to attract people and tourists.
Each "chicken contestant" is carefully selected by farming households, meticulously cared for from diet, farming environment to maintaining appearance. These "candidates" impress with smooth feathers, healthy, balanced figures and the characteristic "beard" under the chin.
Ms. Le Dung (Cai Chien village, Cai Chien commune), one of the chicken breeding households in the locality and also the owner of the "chicken beauty queen" in this year's contest, said that this is the first time the locality has organized the contest. She is very honored that her chicken number 05 won the "coronary".
This is a native chicken breed, which has appeared since the power grid was not brought to the island commune. Her family has been raising this precious chicken breed for many years, contributing to bringing economic value to the family in particular and the locality in general.
Also according to Ms. Dung, this chicken breed takes nearly 1 year to be eaten after castration. castrated chicken meat is not dark and more chewy.
Chickens with beard are raised naturally by her or in cages with other chicken breeds, the "ration" is also no different from natural food to ensure the meat is fragrant, firm, and does not lose the value of local specialties.
Not only has a characteristic beard, this chicken breed also has smooth feathers, bright colors, short legs, and yellow skin. In addition to participating in the "chicken beauty contest", Ms. Dung's family raises beard chickens to serve the culinary needs of tourists and to get eggs. Currently, for each kg of beard chickens, her family sells them for 200-250,000 VND.
Since 2015, chicken beard has become an OCOP product. This chicken breed is also a tourism culinary product of Cai Chien island commune, recognized and enjoyed by many tourists every time they come here for tourism.
Strolling around Cai Chien pearl island, tourists can easily see images of chickens with characteristic beards under their chins raised by many households, becoming a cultural, culinary beauty and tourism potential of Cai Chien.
