Vital Health Livestock Development Limited
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- HKV0161
Chickenlicous
As late as the 1970s, having chicken for dinner was something of a luxury, as buying a whole chicken took a big bite out of housekeeping budgets. Improved farming, food processing and freezing techniques made chickens affordable to everyone. However, Cantonese people still prefer their food as fresh as possible – with the fish still swimming and the chickens still clucking – because cooks believe chilling or freezing food affects the flavour.
Reports of bird flu infecting some chicken farms raised awareness of about the health hazards of selling live chickens in wet markets, but despite this live chickens are still in demand by chicken lovers who do not want to compromise taste.
Kwok Ming Cheung, Managing Director of Vital Health Livestock Development Limited, raises chickens in Hong Kong to suit local people’s tastes, while ensuring they are safe to eat.
The birth of the Kamei chicken
Kwok is passionate about poultry, and completed his master’s degree in poultry nutrition in Canada. After returning to Hong Kong, he worked at an animal feed manufacturer before setting up his own chicken farm in 1988.
Running a chicken farm in Hong Kong is far from easy. Major challenges include high costs, competition from the Mainland, and issues like food safety.
“Given all these challenges, I think the only way for Hong Kong chicken farmers to survive is to find a niche in the market instead of competing with importers on price,” he said. “Some local farmers and I suggested rearing a unique breed of chicken that suits local tastes and has quality meat to satisfy demands of discerning customers. So in 1997, the Government and the Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong agreed to start researching a new breed of chicken.”
Kwok was one of the local chicken farmers who participated in the development programme, which resulted in the Kamei chicken.
Before the breeding programme began, a survey was conducted which confirmed that Hong Kong people prefer the natural taste of chicken. The survey results also showed that customers are health conscious and preferred chickens with less fat, explained Kwok.
Taste and health
Researchers combined the good traits of various chicken breeds, such as low fat, smooth meat, flavour, etc. to produce the Kamei chicken, which went on sale in 2003.
“Steamed chicken is popular among the Chinese, because they believe steaming allows the full flavour of chicken or fish come through. The Kamei chicken is perfect for steaming because of its smooth texture,” said Kwok.
He said Kamei chickens are reared in Hong Kong in a carefully controlled environment. They are given specially formulated chicken feed containing only natural ingredients free from artificial colourings, hormones, antibiotics or other additives. When ready for market, each batch of chickens has to go through stringent quarantine procedures before they are sold.
Because they are carefully reared and given quality feed, Kaimei chickens are more expensive than imported or Mainland chickens, retailing for around HK$180 per bird. Despite this, Kwok says health conscious customers feel they are value-for-money.
Battling bird flu
Like other chicken farmers, Kwok’s business has been greatly affected by bird flu. He had a painful experience when bird flu struck his farm in 2002. He was forced to slaughter all of his chickens to stop the disease from spreading, and disinfected his farm. Frustrated that despite all of his precautions his chickens still caught bird flu, he searched for answers.
“I noticed that chickens are susceptible to flu in winter when it is cold. Because of this, I used to cover the chicken sheds to keep the chickens warm. Although the chickens were warm, I discovered that less air circulating allowed bacteria and the bird flu virus to multiply. As soon as I figure that out, I redesigned all the chicken sheds to improve air ventilation, which so far has prevented my chickens getting sick again,” he said.
Carefully rearing his chickens so that they are happy, well fed and healthy has allowed Kwok to build consumers’ confidence in Kamei chickens.
“Currently, an average of 12,000 live chickens is available at outlets daily, of which just 2,000 are Kamei chickens,”he said. “We cannot meet demand for Kamei chickens, and this is not likely to increase because the Government has imposed restrictions on how many birds chicken farms can rear to minimize the risk of bird flu. But I believe that the health and safety concerns of live chickens can be addressed if we poultry farmers strictly follow the proper controls.”
