Kadaknath chicken tickle taste buds

Visakhapatnam: Kadaknath, a fowl from Madhya Pradesh, is slowly getting to be the favoured white meat on Vizag denizens menu. Locally called ‘Kalimasi’ and it is considered a premium breed and its meat is priced at Rs 1,000 per kg which is more than three times that of broiler chicken and country chicken and its egg costs around Rs 50 each.

Balu Venkatesh (Honey Pet Zone owner) is fast picking up the tricks of the trade in raising Kadaknath chicken, and also the economics of it. Balu is planning to set up a poultry with 300 Kadaknath fowls at his farm in Anandapuram village in the district. As a pilot project, he bought 15 birds. 

While drawing a sketch, Balu hopes to make Rs 2 to Rs 2.5 lakhs in six months, discounting the inevitability that some of the grownup fowls could weigh marginally lower than two kilograms, and he might also end up selling the meat at a price a tad below Rs 1,000 per kg.  

He also added that already Kadaknath chicken was served in Hyderabad, later, it may enter Vijayawada, Guntur and other parts of Andhra region.
A poultry farmer Dharmender Naik, who turned as a helper and came to the city from Chhattisgarh, said that the black fowl was mostly found at Maoist-affected Dantewada region in Chhattisgarh. Capital city Raipur is another destination where people relish it. 

Kadaknath meat has more protein with less fat  and it’s likely to be a hit among health conscious, rich and urban foodies. As the meat has medicinal properties, there is a high demand for it, said Dr K Nirusha  of My Health My Care, a diet clinic.

By Phani Suni