Viggo and I love our Malay chickens. We have found it challenging to breed them successfully so we’re trying to think outside the box.
Viggo and I are trying various ideas from more traditional, like trying to hatch Malay eggs ourselves and more creative approaches like trying to use surrogates to hatch and raise our Malay chickens.
We have one asil hen, a critically endangered chicken, that we really love and is an incredible mother. The Livestock Conservancy says,‘The name Aseel, also spelled Asil and Azeel, translates to “pure” or “thoroughbred” in Arabic and “high-born, high caste, pure, and original” in Hindi. In India, the name was originally applied to any chicken that was found to be genuinely game. Being given the name “Aseel” is a sign of the great respect held for the breed.’
We witnessed a very large bald eagle descending upon this asil hen’s brood in the past. When you see a bald eagle on the ground you realize how huge these birds are. Remarkably this 5 or 6 pound hen jumped at this eagle and the size difference between the birds was surreal. She successfully chased off this hungry Goliath. Over the years this phenomenal mother has become completely rewild and why we selected her as a surrogate.
Rewilding by John Davis,” It is restoring natural processes and species, then stepping back so the land can express its own will.” How this relates to domesticated animals is that one can step back so that these animals can express their own will. By doing so, health and vigor can increase dramatically in these animals.
Viggo carefully removed her eggs and placed under her the Malay chicken eggs. She didn’t seem to mind too much.
This is a great project for Viggo and me. It gives us so much to talk about and think about creative ways to increase the health and vigor of our chickens. I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity. This great asil mother has successfully hatched and is rewilding one chick currently. We are excited!
Our M.I.G.H.T project, Malay invigoration gene hybridization team, is hoping to increase the health and vigor of the Malay chickens. Cascadia Heritage Farm will be also looking in and out of the US to find Malay bloodlines to help invigorate the American Malay. We plan to reintroduce more foundation stock to the American Malay such as the Kulang, Kolongi, Lari and Hint to add vigor. We also are introducing Indio Gigante to our breeding program because of the heavy influence of Malay in their pedigree.
We are excited to continue our mission at Cascadia Heritage Farm, we believe we can make a difference and that you can too.
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