Key Technical Points and Management Methods for Free-Range Native Chicken Farming

Free-range native chickens raised in rural areas are deeply loved by consumers for being healthy, delicious and highly nutritious. Free-range native chicken farming has always been a distinctive feature of rural farming, with extremely broad consumer prospects. Let's take a look below at free-range native chicken farming techniques

1. Choosing a suitable rearing site

The native chicken rearing site should be kept at a considerable distance from main residential areas, water sources, main roads, etc.; the chicken coop is best placed in a leeward, sunny and flat location, facing south with simple ventilation. Plastic greenhouses can also be set up for them to rest in; the chicken coop can be converted from an old house or newly built; in small or medium chicken coops, elastic plastic netting with a mesh diameter of l0mm can be installed, and the distance between the ground and the netting should be about 9-l0m. If the chicken coop is converted from an old house, lighting windows about l.5m above the ground and ground-level windows about 0.2m above the ground need to be installed at the front and rear positions.

2. Rearing and management of native chicken chicks

1. Preparing the chicken coop

For a chicken coop converted from an old house, the four walls and ceiling of the house must be thoroughly cleaned, then whitewashed 1--2 times with thick quicklime water, and then fumigated and disinfected with formalin and potassium permanganate; litter, pelleted feed and rearing utensils all need to be thoroughly disinfected.

2. Selecting chicks

To prevent outside chickens from bringing in pathogens and to ensure the purity of the native chicken breed, it is best to use self-retained breeding chickens and self-bred chicks.

3. Selecting breeding chickens

When selecting breeding chickens, pay more attention to their feather color, growth speed and health level; pure native chickens with glossy feathers, fast growth and strong bodies are preferable; the weight of roosters should be L 5-2 lkg, and the weight of hens should be around 1.5kg; the ratio of roosters to hens should preferably be 1:10.

4. Hatching chicks

When using hens to hatch chicks, the chicks' ages should be as close as possible; for large-scale rearing, an incubator can be chosen to hatch the chicks.

5. Brooding management

(1) Rearing density: the rearing density of chicks can refer to the following standards: 50 birds/m2 in the first week, 40 birds/m2 in the second week, 30 birds/m2 in the third week, and then 10 birds/m2. In addition, in the first week, a layer of clean straw should be evenly spread on the plastic netting, not too thick, to avoid the chicks' droppings being unable to fall to the ground; remove the litter in the third week.

(2) Temperature: 32C in the first week, then decrease by 3C each week until the temperature reaches natural temperature.

(3) Lighting duration and intensity: in the first week, use a 60W incandescent lamp for 24h of lighting; in the second week, reduce it to 18h; in the third week, use the natural light duration as the standard, with no need for artificial lighting.

6. Drinking water and first feeding for chicks

The first time chicks drink water after hatching is called “first drink”; 10% glucose or 8% brown sugar water can be added to their drinking water, and vitamins can also be added to enhance their physique and disease resistance; the first time chicks are fed after hatching is called “first feed”, and “first feed” should only be given 3h after the chicks' “first drink”. The amount fed per bird is 4-59 and gradually increased; it is best to give small amounts frequently, and feeding 6-8 times per day is preferable.

7. Free-range release

At the beginning of free-range release, the chicks need to be trained by humans; they can be trained to forage on their own by scattering feed, herding them by hand, blowing whistles, etc. After about lOd of training, the flock will develop a conditioned reflex and forage freely.