A flock of Kadaknath birds

Kadaknath is a native breed of poultry inhabiting Jhabua and Dhar districts in Western parts of Madhya Pradesh. The Jhabua District's mean altitude ranges from 450 to 700 m above mean sea level. The climate is hot and the temperature o o varies between 10 c to 43 c. The area gets an annual rainfall of 500 to 1,000 mm. The Kadaknath has been reared by tribals over a long period of time and its unique breed characteristics have been established through many generations of selection and fixation of genes. It tolerates extreme climatic conditions of summer heat and cold winter stress and thrives very well under minimal management inputs like poor housing, no health care or supplementary feeding while exhibiting appreciable degree of resistance to diseases compared to other exotic breeds of fowl (Thakur et al 2006). The Kadaknath lays around 80-90 eggs annually and is not a good brooder. However its dark coloured meat is considered a delicacy and is also attributed with medicinal qualities much sought after by the tribal. It is locally known as Kalamasi and is used for the traditional treatment of many diseases in human beings and is also considered an aphrodisiac. However, no proper scientific evaluation endorses this claim. The above mentioned reasons make Kadaknath birds comparatively expensive and much aspired for. The meat and eggs are also reckoned to be a rich source of protein. Characteristics of Kadaknath Poultry Breed include Black coloured meat; Black Blue plumage; Black hued internal organs; Body weight at 20 weeks (g) 920; Body weight of adult cockerel 1.5 -2kg; Body weight of adult hen 1-1.5 kg; Age at sexual maturity (days) 180; Annual egg production (number) 105; Egg weight at 40 week (g) 49. The skin, beak, shanks, toes and soles is dark gray coloured, whereas tongue is dark gray or light black in colour. Comb, Wattles and earlobes are light to dark gray or have purple hue. Most of the internal organs of the Kadaknath breed show intense black colouration due to the deposition of melanin pigment in the organs (Rao and Thomas 1984).The three main varieties of Kadaknath breed are: Jet black - The Jet black adult males and females are black in colour; -Pencilled - In Pencilled variety, adult male and female plumage is black with white feathers on neck; -Golden - The Golden adult male and females are basically black in colour with Golden feathers on head and neck.