THE EXPLOITATION HISTORY OF THE TAIHE CHICKEN GERMPLASM RESOURCE OF CHINA
中国泰和鸡种质资源开发史

Taihe chicken is a famous chicken breed which is used for watch and enjoyment in China. It also is used in the medicine, for it is the main ingre dient of the famous Chines medicine "Black-Chicken-White-Phoenix Pills". According to our field survey and a large amount of documents, this paper has discussed the exploitation history and selection process of Taihe chicken. It points out that the history of this chicken's raising and using in medicine has more than 1300 years. The formation of the Taihe chicken can be divided into two periods. The first period is about 240 years long, being from more than 400 years ago to 200 years ago. This chicken was changed from the embryonic form to the appearence of the special breed and from chaotic blood relationship and unstable heredity character to relatively uniform heredity. The second period is from 200 years ago to now. This chicken's heredity character was stabilized and improved. Of course this breed is the result of natural selection and artificial breeding. This paper provides references for further rational exploitation of the Taihe chicken germplasm resource, improving production and further research on Taihe chicken.