Dong'an
Names like Dong'an chicken usually refer to a regional Chinese chicken associated with Dong'an County in Hunan Province, which also gives its name to the cooked dish called Dong'an chicken. It is better understood as a local farm type or ecotype than as a widely standardized exhibition breed in the West. Birds kept under this name are generally valued for meat quality, village hardiness, and adaptation to smallholder systems, with plumage and body type varying by flock.
Management follows the pattern for hardy native chickens: access to forage, secure night housing, clean water, and enough shelter from wet weather are more important than pushing rapid growth. Anyone trying to preserve or buy Dong'an stock should confirm the source and locality, because English-language listings may use the name loosely. Breeding decisions should favor healthy legs, fertility, broodiness or laying according to the keeper's goal, and the practical traits that made the line useful on farms.
Colors: Barred, Birchen, Black, Blue, Brown, Buff, Columbian, Crele, Cuckoo, Duckwing, Gold, Gold Laced, Laced, Lavender, Mille Fleur, Mottled, Partridge, Penciled, Porcelain, Red, Silver, Silver Laced, Spangled, Splash, Wheaten, White
