By Manny Pinol
The Chinese Black Chicken, which ironically have white feathers, have long fascinated me.
The fascination for this exotic poultry breed started during the frequent visits that I and my bosom friend, writer Recah Trinindad, made to the Chinese specialty restaurants of Ermita in Manila when I was still working as Senior Copy Editor and sports columnist of Tempo.
The Chinese Black Chicken are considered to have medicinal value and the soup is perfect for somebody still suffering from a hangover because of a night-long drinking spree.
My Chinese friends say they are best served with Chinese herbs and spices, or “tongkoy” as soup for kids reaching the age of puberty.
They say the soup is best for those recuperating from an illness and women who have just given birth.
While the feather is white, every part of its body is black – the eyes, the beak, the meat and the bones.
These chicken also grow feathers in their legs.
I never had the chance to raise them until about two years ago when in a visit to a farm in Angat, Bulacan supported by the group of former Quezon City Mayor Jun Simon, I saw a pair of the Chinese Black chicken running around.
Mayor Simon gave me the pair and led me to the person who was breeding them who in turn gave me one more rooster and two hens.
I have not really bred a lot of them because they are intensely inbred but I have about a dozen of them now in my farm.
In fact, they have become smaller because of the inbreeding.
What I intend to do now is to look for another family of these Chinese Black chicken which is not related to the ones I have so I could breed a vigorous flock.
If there is anybody out there raising these Chinese Black chicken, I am willing to swap a trio so I could breed more of these fowls.
Please PM me.
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