The Pelung chicken singing contest at Citangtu village, Pengatikan district, Garut Regency, West Java, on March 12, is a tradition that has motivated farmers to breed this chicken species indigenous to the Cianjur regency. Local wisdom is part of the efforts to preserve and develop the local poultry.
Local tradition in the form of pelung chicken singing contests helps the chicken compete with imported chicken. Farmers are enthusiastic to breed this chicken because the contest increases its price to millions of rupiah.
Edi Ron Ron, 50, a resident of Baleendah, Bandung regency, West Java, left his house on March 12 at 5 a.m. to go to a pelung chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) contest in Garut, some 70 kilometers from Baleendah. Edi, a pelung chicken enthusiast, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Pelung Chicken Enthusiasts Union (Hipapi) of Bandung, brought with him five chickens, which he named Balebat, Sekarwangi, Subangkit, Gelat and one unnamed chicken. The five “singing” chickens, priced at over Rp 10 million each, will join a contest against hundreds of other chickens from other regions in West Java.
A session, in which 50 chickens participated, lasted 35 minutes. In order to make the chickens crow, a staff member brings a female chicken to stimulate the males. Immediately, the chickens crow and the jury examines the quality of the sound. “For every contest there are five or six sessions,” said organizing committee chairman Aep Saefudin, 55, who is also a chicken farmer.
Aside from sound, the jury also examines the appearance and weight of the chicken. The winners get trophies and incentives. The victory bolsters the prices of the chickens to between Rp 10 million and Rp 25 million. “That price is abnormally high. But, that price drives farmers to breed the chickens and conserve the local species,” said West Java Hipapi chairman Agus Abdurahman, 50.
Original from Cianjur
The pelung chicken contest is often held in West Java, Greater Jakarta and Banten. Almost every week there is a competition. “Now, the contest is limited to two types, regional and open contests. Any contest other than the two are considered open training,” Agus said.
Aside from becoming a singing competition, the contest has become a place for trade, starting with baby chickens to adult chickens aged 1 month, 3 months, 6-7 months and ready-for-contest chickens.
Through the event, the buyers, sellers and enthusiasts interact with each other to get the best quality chickens. The event has also become a forum to share knowledge about pelung chickens among the farmers and the enthusiasts.
A Sundanese figure from Cianjur, Bah Ruskawan, said the Pelung chicken is a breed from Cianjur, which is an indigenous species to Indonesia with three genetic characteristics. First, singing crows; second, fast growth; and third, posture. The weight of a male Pelung chicken can reach 5 to 6.5 kilograms with a height of 40 to 50 centimeters.
According to a local story passed down from generation to generation, the breeding activities started around 1850 in Bunikasih village, Warungkondang district, Cianjur regency. There was a farmer, H Djarkasih or Mama Acih, who was also an ulema, who found a young chicken in his garden. It was believed the young chicken was a forest chicken as the area was surrounded with thick forest in the slopes of Mount Gede Pangrango.
After the young chicken was taken care of, it grew fast into a big and tall chicken. Its crow was long and melodious. Then, Mama Acih called it pelung chicken. In Sundanese, pelung or mawelung or melung means curvy.
The chicken was then mixed with local female chickens and resulted in the present day pelung chicken.
Breeding
So far, almost 80 percent of local genetic poultry is close to extinction because of the government’s policy of promoting imported chicken industrialization. In fact, Indonesian Local Poultry Farmers Union (Himpuli) recorded 28 species of local chickens, several of which are from West Java.
The Sentul chicken, for example, is from Ciamis, the pelung chicken from Cianjur, the Ciparage chicken from Karawang and the Jantur chicken from Subang. The Ciparage chicken is extinct while the Jantur chicken’s current population is unknown.
Pelung and Sentul chickens survived because they are bred. “Sentul chickens produce meat. Pelung chickens are part of a hobby,” Himpuli chairman Ade M Zulkarnain said.
The enthusiasm to breed pelung chickens is quite high. Makmur Farmers Group (KTM) in Songgom, Cipetir village, Cibeber district, Cianjur, for example, handles 5,000 chickens under the supervision of 200 farmers.
The number of chicken farmers in Cianjur is about 1,200, grouped in Hipapi of Cianjur; they each own about 15 chickens. Yet, there is a farmer who is overly enthusiastic. Agus Abdurrahman, KTM chairman in Songgom, for example, has around 800 pelung chickens.
During his 10-year chairmanship of Hipapi in Cianjur, Agus grouped chicken breeding into enthusiasts and farmers. The chicken enthusiasts are those who often take part in chicken contests. Its number is now about one hundred grouped in the Hipapi regency and West Java province level. One of them is Edi Ron Ron, a chicken enthusiast from Baleendah, with 15 Pelung chickens.
Real farmers do not participate in any contests. They keep breeding pelung chickens, producing and selling them.
