Building the OCOP brand "Cam Hoang herbal chicken"

Cam Hoang is one of the few localities in Cam Giang with advantages in agricultural development, especially livestock and aquaculture. For a long time, livestock farming has been the main source of income for many households in the commune, especially chicken farming. Although livestock farming has developed strongly, broiler chickens in Cam Hoang do not have a brand, so their economic value is not high. In 2022, the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture began implementing a model of raising herbal chickens in the commune and achieved positive results. From here, the idea of ​​building a brand for the product "Cam Hoang herbal chicken" was formed.

Mr. Pham Duc Tam in Quy Khe village is one of the first households in the commune to test raising herbal chickens. In the first month, the chickens are fully vaccinated and fed industrial feed, but from the second month onwards, they will be fed a mixture of rice bran, corn bran, banana stems and herbs including single needle, pearl, star anise and cinnamon. The herbs are dried or sun-dried, crushed and mixed into a mixture, then pressed into pellets to feed the chickens. This is the main source of herbs that helps chickens increase their resistance and fight diseases such as asthma, intestinal diseases...

Mr. Tam said: “It takes 4 months for chickens raised with herbs to reach marketable weight, 10-15 days longer than conventional raising methods. Thanks to herbal raising, I do not have to use any antibiotics during the raising process. The chickens are firmer, more delicious, and sweeter than conventionally raised chickens. Many consumers, when they learn about my family's herbal chickens, come to buy them and highly appreciate the quality.”

Originally only raising regular chickens, but since learning about herbal chickens, Mr. Tran Van Phong in Phuong Hoang village has also changed his raising method. According to Mr. Phong, raising herbal chickens is not only delicious and easier to sell than regular chickens, but also saves costs. Chickens are raised using the semi-free range method. The herbs mixed in the chicken feed are all available locally, so the price is cheap. The chickens have increased resistance, so they are less sick and do not need to use antibiotics during the raising process. According to calculations, the cost of 1 kg of herbal chicken is only about 48,000 VND, 7,000 - 10,000 VND/kg cheaper than regular chickens.

Currently, there are about 10 households participating in the herbal chicken farming model, each batch has 500 - 700 chickens. The model brings practical economic and environmental efficiency. The households have harmoniously utilized the available livestock resources in the locality, the barns have also reduced the stench, and clean chicken manure is used effectively in cultivation. The model helps people change their awareness and traditional livestock farming practices to intensive investment in livestock farming, applying scientific and technical advances. Because the model has just been implemented, the product has no brand, and not many consumers know about it, so the selling price is only equivalent to that of conventionally raised chickens.

According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Thang, Chairman of Cam Hoang Commune People's Committee, herbal chicken is still a meat chicken but has been "renewed". This product is in line with the general trend, especially in the context of consumers increasingly paying attention to the quality and safety of the product. The product has great potential for development. "The most important thing to do is to ensure the production process, maintain stable product quality so that when consumers mention herbal chicken, they will remember Cam Hoang. When consumers trust and the product has a foothold in the market, the value of herbal chicken will certainly increase. Currently, the locality has completed the dossier for herbal chicken products to participate in the program "One commune, one product". This will be the main product of the locality in the coming time", Mr. Thang said.