How to raise chickens in free range?

Free-range chickens are more ecological and greener, but compared with the traditional cage culture mode, chickens are also greatly influenced by the external environment, so the following technical points need to be mastered in order to keep chickens free-range:

1. Variety selection

Under the free-range mode, chickens are required to adapt to external changes, including the temperature difference between morning and evening, rain and snow weather and other situations that may bring pressure to chickens.

In addition, the free-range culture mode is easier to form high-quality eggs and meat products, and the production cost is higher than that of large-scale cage culture. If you choose those varieties with high egg production or high meat production, the quality of meat and eggs is poor due to the genetic factors of the varieties themselves, which is not conducive to the improvement of product grade and is not easy to achieve high investment and high return.

Therefore, experts suggest that varieties with strong adaptability, rough feeding tolerance, easy feeding and good quality should be selected as far as possible. Many local breeds in China are the best choice, such as Beijing You Chicken, Hainan Wenchang Chicken, Shandong Laiwu Black Chicken, Green Shell Chicken and Guangxi Sanhuang Chicken.

2. Shell requirements

The modern free-range mode is different from the early courtyard free-range mode, and chickens should be provided with henhouses. The construction of henhouse needs good heat preservation, ventilation and lighting conditions.

The brooding room requires good thermal insulation performance and is equipped with a temperature supply device, such as a heater, coal stove or floor heating. The area of breeding house and laying hen house should not be too large, and should be controlled below 500 ~ 600 square meters.

The size of each henhouse for adult chickens shall not exceed 5,000, the breeding density shall not exceed per square meter 10, the size of each henhouse for laying hens shall not exceed 3,000, and the breeding density shall not exceed 6 per square meter. The hen house needs an automatic lighting controller to control the lighting.

The henhouse should have a large enough exit for chickens to enter and leave freely, and the exit of the henhouse should be at least 4 meters long per 100 square meter.

Outside the henhouse is a free-range farm, and the free-range farm should be large enough, about 4 square meters for each chicken. In summer, fruit trees and trees can be planted in the site for shade, and grass can also be planted for chickens to peck. Set up fences around to prevent wild animals from attacking chickens.

A disinfection pool is set at the entrance and exit of the farm, and limestone or 2% caustic soda is sprayed to disinfect personnel and vehicles. Sterilization pots should also be placed at the door of each henhouse for disinfection of people entering and leaving.

3. Feeding management

According to the different growth stages, it is divided into brooding period, breeding period and laying period for management.

Brooding period: Chickens have poor resistance and are very sensitive to external temperature changes, so temperature is the first and key condition for brooding. For brooding in spring and summer, when the outside temperature reaches above 65438 08℃, it can be gradually transferred to outdoor stocking after 5 weeks; If brooding is in autumn and winter, it usually takes 7 ~ 8 weeks to gradually transition to stocking outside the house.

Chickens are only allowed to move outside during the day and rest indoors at night. If they encounter bad and extreme weather, such as strong wind, rain and snow, they will stay in the house and do no outdoor activities.

Breeding period: stocking density will affect the survival rate and growth rate. Male and female are raised in groups, and the feed is gradually transferred from chicken feed to chick feed. In the wild grass season, the supplementary feeding amount can be appropriately reduced. Observe the situation of chickens, and feed weak chickens and low-weight chickens respectively.

Laying period: Laying hens need 3-4 times more calcium than chicks. Before the start, it is necessary to increase the calcium content in the feed, and gradually transition to the feed for laying hens. At the same time, shells and calcium carbonate particles can be provided for chickens to eat freely. During laying, the illumination shall be controlled at 16 hours, and the illumination intensity shall be 1 m2, 2 watts.

Setting an egg box in the shed and training laying hens to lay eggs in the shed will help reduce the proportion of eggs outside the nest, dirty eggs and broken eggs. Pick eggs once a day in the morning and evening, and the number of egg picks can be increased in summer.

4. Disease prevention and control

In the free-range mode, chickens are in direct contact with the ground and more exposed to various pathogenic microorganisms. If the daily management is improper, diseases are more likely to occur.

First of all, daily disinfection must be done. Available disinfectants include caustic soda, aldehyde, hypochlorous acid, etc. Outside the henhouse, insist on disinfection once a week, and at least two disinfectants are used alternately. Secondly, immunization must be done well. According to the breeding varieties and epidemic characteristics of epidemic diseases, do a good job in vaccination.

In addition, the breeder should always observe the mental state of the chickens and observe the feeding and drinking conditions. If there is any abnormality, corresponding measures should be taken immediately for timely treatment.

Extended data:

Native chickens are free-range, so the drinking water of native chickens comes from nearby mountain springs, and the food they eat is all kinds of plants and insects around them, so the nutritional value of native chickens is relatively high. Mainly manifested in:

1. Compared with our broilers, the meat quality of native chickens is stronger, and the meat quality structure and nutrition ratio are more reasonable. Native chicken is rich in protein, trace elements and various nutrients, and its fat content is relatively low, which is of great value to our health care. China people prefer meat products, belonging to high-protein meat.

2. Native chicken is rich in amino acids and plays a very important role in human body. It is the most basic substance that constitutes our protein, and it is related to life activities. It is the basic unit of protein molecules in living organisms and the basic substance of our lives, which is closely related to human life activities.

It is an indispensable nutrient in our body. These nutrients in native chicken are of great significance to the growth and development of our human body.

3. Chicken skin is rich in glial protein, which can be quickly absorbed and utilized by human body. It is a very good colloid. When we cook native chicken, we will find the difference in meat quality between native chicken and chicken we bought in the market. Native chicken can be used as nourishing food. After giving birth to a baby, pregnant women can use local chicken to stew soup, which can promote the recovery of the body.

Stewed chicken soup is also a good choice for people to recover from illness. Eating native chicken often can strengthen our physique and improve our immunity. There are many ways to make native chicken, such as stewing, grilling and air drying. It is a real green and pollution-free meat food.

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