Kadaknath is a breed of -

Correct — option (4), Fowl.

Fowl here means the domestic chicken. An ICAR-CCARI page on backyard poultry lists Kadaknath among backyard chicken breeds, alongside Aseel, Chittagong and Busra (page archived July 2021).

Further down, under CARI Shyama (Kadakanath Cross), the page describes the breed: locally known as "Kalamasi", meaning the fowl having black flesh, with its home tract in Jhabua and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh and the adjoining districts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

So Kadaknath is a breed of fowl.

The idea to remember: Kadaknath = the black-fleshed chicken breed (Kalamasi) of Jhabua–Dhar.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Bull — A bull is male cattle, a mammal; Kadaknath is a bird.

  Rajasthan's Economic Review 2020-21 names the state's cattle breeds: milch breeds Rathi, Gir, Sahiwal and Tharparkar; dual-purpose Kankrej and Haryana; and the draft breeds Nagori and Malvi. Kadaknath is not among them.

• (2)
  Goat — A goat is a mammal; Kadaknath is a chicken breed listed under backyard poultry by ICAR-CCARI.

  Rajasthan's Economic Review 2020-21 says the state accounts for about 13.99 per cent of India's goats, going by Livestock Census 2019.

• (3)
  Buffalo — A buffalo is a mammal, not a bird. ICAR-CCARI's page places Kadaknath among chicken breeds.

  Rajasthan's Economic Review 2020-21 says the state has about 12.47 per cent of India's buffaloes, going by Livestock Census 2019.

ICAR-NBAGR quotes FAO's definition of a breed as, among other forms, a sub-specific group of domestic livestock with definable and identifiable external characteristics. Kadaknath is such a group within the domestic chicken.

ICAR-CCARI describes its colour: skin, beak, shanks, toes and soles of feet slate-like; comb, wattles and tongue purple. Most internal organs are intensely black, and skeletal muscles, tendons, nerves and brain show varying degrees of black.

The page says this black pigment is due to the deposition of melanin.

Key facts

• Kadaknath is an Indian chicken breed; ICAR-CCARI lists it with Aseel, Chittagong and Busra under backyard-chicken breed selection.
• Its local name "Kalamasi" means the fowl having black flesh (ICAR-CCARI).
• Home tract: Jhabua and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh and the adjoining districts of Rajasthan and Gujarat (ICAR-CCARI).
• The black colour of its organs and muscles is due to the deposition of melanin (ICAR-CCARI).
• Livestock Census 2019 counted 146.23 lakh poultry birds in Rajasthan (Economic Review 2020-21).

Common traps

• Dark meat is not a clue to a mammal: Kadaknath's black flesh comes from melanin in a chicken.
• Kadaknath the breed and CARI Shyama are different entries: ICAR-CCARI lists CARI Shyama as a Kadaknath cross among breeds from CARI, Izatnagar.
• The home tract crosses state lines: centred on Jhabua and Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, it includes adjoining districts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  "Kalamasi", meaning the fowl having black flesh, is the local name of which chicken breed?

  • (a)Aseel
  • (b)Kadaknath
  • (c)Chittagong
  • (d)Busra
  Answer(2) — ICAR-CCARI gives Kalamasi as Kadaknath's local name. On the same page, option (1) is noted for pugnacity and stamina, option (3) is also known as Malay, and option (4) is described as a medium-sized, light-feathered bird.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  The black colour of the internal organs and muscles of the Kadaknath breed is due to the deposition of –

  • (a)Haemozoin
  • (b)Chlorophyll
  • (c)Melanin
  • (d)Carotene
  Answer(3) — ICAR-CCARI says Kadaknath's black pigment is due to the deposition of melanin. None of options (1), (2) or (4) is the pigment the page names.