How to Increase the Laying Rate of Free-Range Chickens? Practical Farming Methods Shared
Free-range chickens generally refer to chickens raised free-range in rural areas. Free-range eggs are also a necessity for every household. Leaving aside the difference in nutritional value between free-range eggs and commercial eggs, the taste is still different. Free-range eggs are more fragrant than commercial eggs, and the color of the yolk is also different. That is why more people seek to buy free-range eggs. This opens up sales channels for free-range chicken farmers, and they have no trouble selling at all. In this way, increasing the laying rate of free-range chickens means increasing economic income. Let's learn more about it together below.
How to Increase the Laying Rate of Free-Range Chickens
1. Add insulation and lighting facilities
Erect windbreak barriers around the chicken coop, keep the floor inside the coop clean, and spread bedding straw. At the same time, seal the doors and windows well. At night, lower straw curtains for insulation or light a fire for heating, so that the room temperature is always kept above 10°C. If the number of free-range chickens being raised is small, they can be driven back indoors at night.
2. Strengthen management
There should be an exercise yard outside the chicken coop, and resting perches should be set up inside the coop. The stocking density should preferably be 5 chickens per sq m. Before letting the chickens out in the morning, pay attention to adjusting the temperature difference between inside and outside the coop to prevent the chickens from catching cold. Normally, feed them with hanging feeders, that is, place the feed high to encourage movement, help digestion, and make the chickens strong. Persist in providing lighting for 13 to 14 hours every day. When natural light is insufficient, turn on electric lights for lighting. In winter, it is advisable to increase feeding frequency, feeding small amounts frequently, 3 to 5 times a day, to ensure every chicken eats enough, which is good both for generating body heat and for gaining weight.
3. Diversify the feed
The concentrated feed for free-range chickens should mainly consist of corn, sorghum, bran, etc., and the green feed should mainly consist of carrots, cabbage, spinach, etc. During the laying period of free-range chickens, also feed some soybean cake, cornmeal, shell powder, fish bone meal, and other protein and mineral feeds, and ensure sufficient drinking water every day.
4. Mix feed with white liquor
Add 30 to 40 grams of white liquor of about 60 degrees to each kilogram of feed, mix well, and then feed it. This can increase the laying rate of free-range chickens by about 18%, and at the same time can also enhance their disease resistance.
5. Make full use of feed additives
Adding 0.05% choline chloride, 0.15% methionine, and an appropriate amount of natural yeast essence to the feed can increase the laying rate of free-range chickens by 3%.
6. Do a good job in disinfection and epidemic prevention
Frequently clean manure and debris from the chicken coop, regularly replace bedding material, and usually pay attention to frequent disinfection with cresol solution and mixing Chinese herbal medicine into the feed, or use a 0.5% potassium permanganate solution for drinking water.
How to Extend the Laying Period of Free-Range Chickens
1. Provide sufficient protein. Each egg a chicken lays requires about 12 to 15 grams of protein. Generally, for every 10% increase in laying rate, the protein level in the daily ration should be increased by about 1%. In addition, when an increase in laying rate is anticipated, feed a daily ration with a higher protein level 1 week in advance, and when the laying rate begins to decline, the protein level in the daily ration should also be lowered 1 week later.
2. Supplemental lighting. Light has an obvious stimulating effect on gonadal activity. Artificial supplemental lighting generally starts from 21 weeks of age for laying hens. From 21 to 24 weeks of age, increase lighting by half an hour per week; after 25 weeks of age, increase lighting by half an hour every 2 weeks, until the daily lighting time reaches 16 hours. In the last 4 weeks of laying, increase lighting by another 1 hour per day until the end of the first laying year. The best time for supplemental lighting is from early morning until dawn each day.
3. Control energy. When the laying rate reaches 90%, the metabolizable energy per kilogram of feed should be controlled at 2700 to 2750 kcal. In this way, increasing feed protein can promote the rapid arrival of the peak laying period.
4. Supplement green feed. Green feed is rich in protein, vitamins, chlorophyll, and many unknown nutritional factors. Properly adding some green feed can activate the reproductive function of chickens and increase egg production.
5. Supplement calcium. According to research, supplementing calcium to laying hens from 12:00 to 18:00 each day has the best effect. The calcium content in the daily ration of laying hens is generally above 3%. During the peak laying period (laying rate above 80%), the calcium content in the daily ration can be increased to 3.5% to 4%; when the laying rate is 80% to 65%, the calcium in the daily ration should be kept at 3% to 3.25%. In addition to supplementing calcium in the feed, placing calcium troughs containing shell and bone meal in the coop or exercise yard for the chickens to eat freely also has good results.
6. Reduce stress. Laying hens are very sensitive to environmental changes, especially lightweight laying hens, which are particularly nervous. Any change in environmental conditions can cause a stress response and make the peak laying period drop sharply. Therefore, during the critical period when the flock reaches peak laying, all effective measures should be taken to reduce stress and keep the flock at high and stable production.
7. Clever use of additives. Feeding baking soda can increase the laying rate and eggshell strength and reduce broken eggs; adding 0.15% choline chloride can maintain the laying rate above 79%.
8. Ensure flock health. Hens at the peak laying period have the most vigorous reproductive function and the most intense metabolism, and this is the period when the most protein is synthesized. At this time, the chicken body is under huge production stress, with relatively weak resistance and susceptibility to disease. Special attention must be paid to environmental and drinking water hygiene so that the flock is not infected by pathogenic bacteria.
Which Free-Range Chickens Lay More Eggs?
Ordinary free-range chickens, because they need to brood, can lay about 120 eggs a year. Some improved breeds of free-range chickens can lay 180 eggs a year, such as Gushi chickens and Xianju chickens from Zhejiang.
Wuhai chickens lay about 180 eggs a year, with a peak laying rate of 86%. Wuhai chickens have “black feathers, black skin, black meat, black bones, and black internal organs”, and their eggs are green. They are a rare premium poultry breed that combines natural black food and green food. Their green-shell eggs are praised as “Oriental divine eggs, pearls of China”, and are extremely ideal nutritional health products.
In farming, the main points to note are doing well the early insulation work and vaccinations. Before free-range release, pay attention to weather changes and try to choose sunny days for release.
How to Select Eggs
1. Visual identification: fresh eggs have relatively rough shells, old eggs have smooth shells, and moldy eggs have spots.
2. Hand-weighing identification: good eggs have moderate weight, while inferior eggs feel relatively light when weighed by hand.
3. Smell identification: you can breathe a mouthful of hot air onto the egg and then smell it with your nose. A good egg will have a slight quicklime smell.
4. Listening identification: hold the egg by your ear and shake it. When held in the hand and shaken, if there is a sloshing sound, the egg is good. The sound of a good egg is relatively solid. You can also hold several eggs in your hand and gently knock them together. Inferior eggs will make a cackling sound, hatching eggs will make a hollow sound, and water eggs will make a splashing sound.
So we now know that if we want to increase the laying rate of free-range chickens, we need to supplement their nutrition more and give them a good environment. Only by increasing the laying rate will income increase. For laying hens, eggs are what is valuable. In short, farmers must work hard on management and nutrition. The knowledge points summarized above are hoped to help everyone.