The Council of Agriculture’s Livestock Research Institute yesterday unveiled a new chicken breed it has developed that it said has softer meat and increased egg production.
The black velvet silkie, which took the institute 12 years to develop, is “of the highest quality,” it said at an event in Tainan to promote its products.
Compared with other Taiwanese silkie breeds, which are black, the black velvet silkie is dark gray and smaller, the institute said.
Photo courtesy of the Council of Agriculture’s Livestock Research Institute
Despite being smaller, it has tender meat and lays more than twice as many eggs as other Taiwanese silkies, it said.
The development of the new breed took 11 generations of careful selection, with all of the large chickens removed, said researcher Liou Hsiao-lung (劉曉龍), who took part in the project.
The result is a bird with very tender meat with a sweet taste, Liou said.
The breed also has a higher egg production rate, he said, adding that a 40-week-old black velvet silkie hen can lay as many as 102 eggs, compared with an average of 44 for other Taiwanese silkie breeds.
The black velvet silkie’s eggs are more nutritious than those from other Taiwanese silkie breeds, with higher levels of lecithin, docosahexaenoic acid, folate and iron, he said.
The institute also presented other products it has developed, including a probiotic supplement made with antler extracts and calcium supplements made from deer bones.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS