South Korea is truly living up to its reputation as the kingdom of chickens as the head count of local birds nearly quadrupled the human population in the land as an unusually early and lengthy heat wave together with late-night TV airing of the 2018 World Cup match in Russia fanned appetite for Koreans’ all-time nighttime favorite menu of chimaek - the mix of chicken and maekju (beer).

According to a report released by Statistics Korea and Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality on Thursday, the number of chickens farmed in Korea as of June 1 stood at 191.02 million, up 10.6 percent from a year ago. It is the highest figure since Statistics Korea began disclosing related data in 1983. The number of chickens grown in Korea jumped significantly this year as consumers increasingly sought poultry dishes.

By type, a total of 112.68 million broiler chicks were raised as of June, marking the largest volume since 1983. Statistics Korea said that chicken farms raised more broiler chicks to prepare for increased demand in the summer when consumers eat samgyetang or chicken soup with ginseng for stamina and to meet growing demand for fried chicken as a side dish to enjoy World Cup watching.

The number of laying hens, meanwhile, reached 67.04 million as of June 1, up 16.8 percent from the same period last year, recovering to the normal level after dropping significantly in the first half of last year from slaughtering to prevent the spreading of avian influenza.

The number of chickens raised for breeding reached 11.29 million, down 1.2 percent during the cited period.

Meanwhile, the number of hanwoo and beef cattle raised in Korea as of June 1 increased slightly by 1 percent to 3.07 million from a year ago. The number of milk cows also dropped 2.3 percent to 405,000 during the same period.

Statistics Korea said that the drop in the number of milk cows came as a result of low birth rate that has affected milk consumption and led the government to cut raw milk production.

A total of 11.3 million pigs were raised in Korea as of June 1, up 1 percent from a year ago, and 10.49 million ducks, up 62.4 percent during the same period.

By Lee Yu-sup and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]