Kampong Chicken (Part One)

For my first article in year of 2009, I want to discuss “Kampong Chicken”, indigenous chickens of Indonesia and its opportunities both as a source of animal protein and as a source of income for Indonesia society.

Indonesia has some species of Kampong Chicken such as Pelung, Merawang, Sentul and etc. For sure, those chickens are our biodiversity that need to be conserved. But, economically those chickens could be a source of income for Indonesian society. It’s because the special character of Kampong chicken farming is its independence toward complete feed (we can do self-mixing of feed by using local feed stuffs) and its body immunity toward different kind of diseases. But, the productivity of its meat and eggs are low and need to be increased and improved. Although the productivity of Kampong chicken is low, I still believe that Kampong chicken could be a special source of animal proteins (meat & egg) to supply the need of animal proteins in Indonesia.

In Indonesia, Kampong chicken farming is mostly run by village society or in the other words there is no contribution from the giant poultry industry. And mostly, it is the main source of income for village society besides agriculture farming.

Ok, one thing that could be discussed is: how far giant poultry industry could take a part in Kampong chicken farming and its business without monopolising both its farming and its business practices? When they do monopolise, a lot of small scale farms collapse. Have your say!