六堆客家閹雞產業發展之探討——以「竹田閹雞」飼養場為例

A Study of Hakka Capon Industry Development--An Example of Chu-Tien Capon Farm

「閹雞」在台灣是一項古老且神秘的行業，去勢過的閹雞，其肉質的風味、滑嫩、多汁性，皆較未去勢公雞尤佳，也因好養、抗病力佳、體型碩大，而演變成敬神祭祖時，供桌上的必備品。近幾年來，閹雞產業在台灣算是新興產業，特色是單價高、飼養期長，於5-8週齡公雞，需進行去勢手術，因此投入該相關產業者並不多。早期客家先民，怕飼養公雞達性成熟齡時，彼此間會因打鬥而折損，故選擇將公雞去勢。本研究以竹田閹雞飼養場為例，經由參與式觀察、半結構式訪查及SWOT（Strengths、Weaknesses、Opportunities、Threats）產業分析法等研究方法，與所收集文獻資料交叉比對後，找出閹雞產業中的優勢、劣勢、機會與威脅因子，進而導引出各項方針與策略，期能提供閹雞產業未來發展之研擬。

Capon is a mysterious and ancient industry in Taiwan. Castrated cocks possess more advantages than non-castrated cocks, such as better flavor, tenderer, and juicier meat. In addition, castrated cocks tend to be easy to raise, better disease resistance, and larger in size. Thus, castrated cock has become an important offering in Hakka worship ceremony. The capon industry is regarded as an emerging industry in recent years in Taiwan. The features of castrated cocks are high unit price and long raising period. When cockerels are raised for 5 to 8 weeks, the castration will be conducted. In the early days, Hakka people chose to castrate cocks to avoid their financial loss caused by cocks’ fighting when they reached maturity. This study takes the Chu-Tien Capon Farm as an example, using participatory observation, semi-structured interview, and SWOT industrial analysis, and literature review to find the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the capon industry. Further this study aims to provide guidelines and strategies to the capon industry for the future development.