Nandan Yao Chicken 南丹瑶鸡

Where it comes from

The Nandan county overview lists the bird among the county's well-known local products, next to Danquan liquor (丹泉酒) and Zhongbao yellow cattle (中堡黄牛), and calls Nandan a home of the Yao chicken (瑶鸡之乡). The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region agriculture and rural affairs department describes it as a local breed that comes from a thousand years of domestication by the Baiku Yao (白裤瑶), the White-Trousers Yao, and traces its quality to several hundred years of natural selection and closed breeding. The department also reports that the product has passed geographical-indication certification.

Breeding continues today: the county works with research bodies including Guangxi University on new lines, using marker-assisted selection to pick core flocks that adapt well, have fine, tender meat and grow at a steady rate.

How the birds are raised

The rearing follows Baiku Yao practice and a forest free-range model, summed up in the slogan "drink mountain spring water, peck at medicinal herbs, roost in the forest trees". Under the rearing standard, each batch is let loose in mountain forest at 800 to 1,000 metres above sea level for more than six months. The birds forage every day for insects, wild greens and wild plant seeds, with maize and rice grain as a supplement, and no antibiotics are added at any stage.

Flavour and texture

The agriculture department credits this slow rearing with meat that is firm and springy, with little fat under the skin. It describes the flavour as crisp skin and fragrant bones, with meat that tastes clean and sweet.

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