Japanese Jidori (Hinai-Jidori) Chicken [From Iron Chef] RARE BREED!!!

[jasanch5]

On the second to last episode of 'the next iron chef' they briefly mentioned something about some extravagant “Jidori Japanese Egg…” (brown egg)

I did a quick Google search and it turns out some entrepreneur in California is selling his fresh never frozen free-range chickens to premium chefs to use in their restaurants… and marketing it as some sort of ancient Japanese chicken… He even trademarked “Jidori,” which more research showed it meant ‘ground chicken’ ( =free range?)

My question is… What BREED of chicken is this? Something mixed with RIR was all I could find!!!

Surely someone here has got some answers!!!

It’d be fun to add one to the flock for bragging rights and as a copy cat novelty…Lol

 

[Illia]

Doesn't Jidori simply mean free range in Japanese?

You've got to remember, most eggs out there are not free range. Sheesh even about 75% of all BYC users don't free range their chickens, so of course someone's gotta put a spiffy name on their eggs because they're free ranged. And who knows. . . Maybe they aren't. I've seen people sell "free range" eggs from chickens stuck in a dirt covered run.

 

[jasanch5]

Without giving up on the hunt for this 'breed' which is supposed to be some regional native chicken mix....

What is the BYC agreed definition of "free range???"

Is it based on the amount of square footage available (coop with large run)?
Time spent not within fences (outside of coop & outside of run)?
or Diet (bugs, worms, plants, etc)?

Said entrepreneur (borrowed from nytimes article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/dining/21chicken.html)

Google image search:

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Just about that.
Everything I read say, “chicken of the earth.” (I think it is a generic term that a Japanese chef made up)

Chris

 

[Miyazaki]

We were also trying to figure out what breed to call our "jidori." The only information we could get from our neighbors wasn't very helpful.
At the moment, we've got four (not including the cockerel we just laid to rest in the freezer), three pullets and one cockerel.
"Jidori" do seem like a mix of local breed and Nagoya Kochin. We actually went out to a place that breeds "jidori" for the restaurants in town
when we needed our Kochin processed. Thanks to the Internet and Youtube, we can now take care of processing on our own.

We keep our birds for eggs (and the occasional holiday feast).

Will try to post a few pictures when we've got time.

 

[danhonour]

I recall them being a common backyard breed in Japan,a landrace.However I believe the Japanese standard has given them breed requirements.

 

[exop]

I ran into the word "Jidori" again recently in an article which explained what it meant. The term is used in Japan to refer to several regional Japanese breeds of chicken which are hundreds, possibly thousands of years old. Although the author translated it as "Japanese old-style chicken", it seems like "native chicken breed" or "landrace" would also work.

Ji 地 translates as "land" and dori 鶏 is "chicken", as in Onagadori 尾長鶏 .

The chickens being held in the photo look a little too large to be real Jidori!

Best - exop

 

[HappyTailsFarm]

Land-Chicken-you know-as opposed to those rare Water-Chickens

thats as bad as breeders in the U.S. claiming they raise real Onagadori instead of Phoenix or even worse in some ways-Onagadori Phoenix-not even the same breed-Phoenix just has the tiniest bit of O blood and was developed in Europe and the U.S.-mind you Onagadori are still in Japan, and very few at that, sad to see that people will just go with anything their told and not do their research-

 

[Gallusfarm]

Interesting thread. Lots of new folks here.

 

[StevenW.]

Just a regular free rangeing chicken. Its not a rare breed.