Yellow-hair chicken, also called yellow-feather chicken (), is a breed of
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
traditionally
raised for meat in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It takes about 120 days to grow to market size compared to as little as 41 days for specially-bred
broiler
A broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaughte ...
chickens.
Yellow-hair chicken is flavorful, but takes longer and is more difficult to cook than a typical broiler as it has less fat and more meat. Most whole birds sold in markets in China are Yellow-hair.
Outside of China it is only available in
Chinese restaurants, and, even there, usually not on the English menu.
The breed is being displaced in China by broiler chickens.
Yellow-hair chicken is not necessarily
free range
Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day.
On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, ...
, although it could be, if raised that way.
Notes
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Chinese cuisine
Chicken breeds originating in China