Vanuatu's Small Livestock Department says the Sussex chicken has become a favourite among farmers.
Sussex chicken Photo: Public domain/ Christian Specht
Statistics show 10,000 Sussex birds have so far been distributed throughout the country's 83 islands.
The department's Nambo Moses said the Breeding Centre in Port Vila receives regular supplies of Sussex eggs from New Zealand, and is hatching about 200 chickens a day.
Mr Moses said the Sussex hen has a dual purpose, laying an egg a day for two years before the bird can be eaten.
It's also larger than local chickens and fits government plans for more households to eat locally raised meat.
The government wants a beef herd of 500,000 and chicken numbers to reach a million by 2025.