The 9-spur cocks owned by Nguyen The Thang in Hung Dung Ward, Vinh City of Nghe An province, lay eggs in a row, which are just as big as a finger. The strange sight has attracted many visitors.

Thang said one of his fowls once laid tiny eggs two years ago and this is the fourth time the 9-spur hens raised by him lay such eggs. The eggs are getting smaller, and there are both cocks and hens in the coop.

Some people guess that the eggs are laid by cocks, and therefore, the eggs only have an egg white, and they take this at a good omen. Some others said the hens are running out of eggs and they are laying the last ones, so they are tiny. Meanwhile, many people joke that the fowls have experienced gender reassignments.

“It’s really interesting to receive the eggs which are as tiny as thumbs. I will preserve the eggs for souvenirs,” he said. 

In 2016, Thang paid a visit to one of his friends – Thach, in Thach Ha district in Ha Tinh province and saw three 9-spur cocks at Thach’s home. To treat the distinguished guest, Thang slaughtered one of the cocks. The taste was very good.

Thach agreed to sell Thang the remaining 9-spur cocks at VND400,000 per kilogram.

After that, Thang rented coops to breed the cocks in Vinh City. Just after a short time, the number of 9-spur cocks increased rapidly.

The 9-spur cocks are a kind of wild cock, sourced from Phu Tho, and they have nine lives. At night, they sleep on trees. If they see natural enemies, they shout to warn each other.

The food for 9-spur cocks is the same as other fowl species. The feed every day is 10 percent of the cocks’ weight, including 70 percent of fiber and 30 percent of starch. In the conditions in semi-wild breeding, the density rate should be 7 cocks per square meter.

According to Thang, it’s difficult to expand the group of cocks in the middle of Vinh because of limited areas. So decided to produce chicks to provide to the market.

Since then, Thang’s cocks always contain 30 hens and 6 cocks (the ratio of 1:5). Every week, he can collect 60-80 eggs and if incubating the eggs, half hatch. He retains the 20 best chicks with at least six spurs while the remaining ate given to poor people.

Every 1-month old breed cock sells for VND150,000. 

“The number of chicks produced is stable, which can bring income of VND109 million a month,” Thang said. “If I still cannot sell the chicks, I give them to farmers to breed with the promise that I will buy all the fowl back later.”

The price is VND120,000 per kilogram for hens and VND250,000 per kilogram for cocks. Each fowl weighs 1.5-2.3 kilograms. The chicken is very delicious.

Some years ago, Thang chose a beautiful rooster and gave it to Ao Am Mua Dong (Warm clothes in winter), a charity club, for fundraising and auction. Later, after more experience of raising fowls, he selected the best fowl to raise.

According to Thang, the best are the ones with yellow legs and smooth feathers, which are clever and fast. There are 7-spur and 8-spur cocks as well. Some people buy the cocks to make medicine.

Those who buy Thang’s cocks are attracted by the chicken’s legs. If they are satisfied, they pay from VND500,000 to VND5 trillion per cock. Some people have placed orders with Thang, promising to buy 9-spur cocks for Tet gifts. The number of orders has increased rapidly in recent years.

If prices are stable, the value of 10 9-spur cocks is equal to 200 regular fowl.

The Thang - Quoc Huy