Ayam Kampung
The meaning of this term depends on its usage. Traditionally, it is used to describe the indigenous chicken which is a mixed breed of various breeds of chickens indigenous to this part of the world. Among the breeds that made up the ayam kampung are the jungle fowl (gallus gallus), the Malay, the Sumatra and the Siamese fighting cock. The ayam kampung is not a breed. It is a term used to describe a mix-breed chicken commonly found in villages throughout South East Asia.
In the markets, the term ayam kampung refers to any non-broiler chicken i.e. a slow growing, colored feather chicken. Various improved breeds and hybrids are now also sold as ayam kampung. These include the Sasso chickens, various Hungarian Naked Neck breeds and hybrids, various crosses such as Kabir and Isa, etc. In many rural roads, one can see these breeds roaming free and are considered as 'ayam kampung' by villagers now.
To the consumer the term Ayam Kampung implies that the chicken is free-range and fed natural food. This unfortunately is very far from the truth. If a supplier can supply you with hundreds of ayam kampung per day, the only way this can be achieved is through intensive farming methods
Free Range
Free-range implies freedom of movement and being raised in clean soil with fresh vegetation and grass available for the chickens. This calls for unlimited space for the chickens to roam. This used to be the case in the old days where we see flocks of 20 or 30 chickens roaming around the kampung.
Nowadays free-range chickens are grown in an enclosed space, either in houses called rebans or in small enclosed "yards". If grown in "yards" the grounds rapidly become bare, muddy and smelly. The right word to describe this type of operation is "yarding" from the word "back-yard". This type of operation will result in an environment infested with pathogens. Some farmers "yard" their ayam kampung in a small area in an oil palm estate, fenced in under the trees and sell them as free-range. Most "ayam kampung" sold today in the wet market however, are raised in rebans and have never seen a single blade of grass.
True free range requires unlimited foraging space, which is not practical, or for the chickens to be moved from fresh pasture to fresh pasture, as is done for DQ Chickens
Premium Range Chicken
This means the same as Premium Chicken. It does not have anything to do with free ranging. It is just a play on words
No Added Antibiotic / Antibiotic Residue Free
"No added antibiotic" implies that the feed already has sub-therapeutic antibiotic and the farmer do not add further antibiotics on his own. Antibiotic residue-free implies those feed with sub-therapeutic antibiotics are withdrawn prior to slaughter and replaced with feed totally free of antibiotic. Withdrawal period can be anything between 5 to 10 days. DQ Chicken has no sub-therapeutic antibiotics in the feed and DQ do not rely on antibiotics for growth or for disease control. DQ chickens are tested regularly on a random basis purchased from random outlets selling our chickens by an independent lab.
Chemical Free
Chemical-free is taken to mean chickens that are not fed chemicals of any kind, nor treated with chemicals to prolong shelf life. Chemical-free does not necessarily mean that the chickens are not disinfected with chlorine during processing, or that the environment that they are raised is chemical-free. Also, most chicken feed in Malaysia contain fish meal which has various chemicals in it, for example a preservative called ethoxyquin. Fish meal has also been found to have high levels of dioxin according to a BBC report a few years ago. DQ Chicken are chemical free and are raised in a chemical free environment
Fresh Chicken
This is taken now to mean any chicken that's not frozen. In some wet markets and smaller supermarkets, frozen chickens are routinely thawed and sold as fresh. DQ Chicken are aged for 8 to 10 hours at 2 to 4 degrees celsius and then delivered to
consumers chilled.
Organic Chicken
Local "organic" chickens are not certified and normally refers to chickens that are antibiotic-free. In most instances they are not free-ranging and do not qualify to be called "organic". Apart from that, nothing much is known about their farming practices. From tests done by us, it would appear that the chickens are fed meat bone and blood meal and fishmeal and therefore cannot be considered as organic. The only true organic chicken we have found available locally is Barlil Organic Chicken from Australia sold at Country Farm outlets. Our tests have shown them to be quality chickens.
p/s: this article taken from DQ farm/terminology
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