Key Technical Points and Methods for Raising Chickens Under Fruit Trees
Native chickens raised under trees have excellent meat quality, a delicious flavor, and fetch a high market price. They are 40%-50% more expensive than caged chickens. In plain terms, the under-tree chicken-raising model means making full use of the gaps between fruit trees and using fencing to develop broiler production, which both saves on chicken feed costs and clears pests and weeds from the woodland, achieving harmonious development with animal husbandry. The under-tree chicken-raising technique is therefore introduced below.
Under-tree chicken raising fits society's consumption concepts and has broad market prospects
With social and economic development, environmental pollution has become increasingly serious, which has made people pay more and more attention to green, pollution-free environments and food. People's demand for green food has set stricter requirements for the development of the breeding industry. In the process of raising native chickens, besides meeting people's demand for quantity, attention should also be paid to improving the quality of the native chickens and carrying out green, pollution-free farming. Raising native chickens under trees achieves ecological farming, so the meat of the chickens raised this way is even more delicious and market demand keeps increasing. At the same time, native chickens growing in an under-tree environment have more food choices and richer nutrition. This gives the native chickens a better growing environment, greatly shortens their growth cycle, and ensures good economic returns.
Advantages of raising chickens under trees
1. Chicken manure serves as organic fertilizer for fruit trees, solving manure pollution and reducing chemical fertilizer use
2. Chicken manure contains protein and other nutrients and can serve as food for earthworms, insects and other animals in the orchard, thereby providing chickens with rich protein feed
3. Chickens in the orchard can catch insects and eat grass, replacing chemical weeding and pest control and reducing pesticide use
4. Chickens raised in orchards are of excellent quality, pollution-free, uniquely flavored and highly profitable
5. Under-tree chicken raising taps the potential of three-dimensional planting and breeding, makes full use of land resources, feed resources and fertilizer sources, reduces pollution, and achieves relatively high economic, ecological and social benefits
Precautions for raising chickens under trees
1. Do a good job of safety precautions and prevent natural enemies and animal damage
Ecology differs from place to place, and so do natural enemies, mainly hawks, weasels, wildcats and others, which cause great losses to under-tree chicken raising. The following methods can be used to prevent natural enemies: train domestic dogs to drive away nearby rodents, use firecrackers to drive off hawk attacks, and use nylon netting to enclose the pasture, which is a relatively practical method.
2. Set up rain (heat) shelters
According to the number of chickens and the woodland area, appropriately build some felt-roof sheds, which are very important for preventing the flock from being drenched by rain, exposed to scorching sun, or startled unexpectedly.
3. Use wire mesh and other fencing to divide the woodland into zones for rotational grazing
Move to a new plot after one week of grazing. In this way, chicken manure feeds the grass, earthworms and insects in the woodland, giving them a period of rest and recovery, so that when the next batch of chicks arrives there is again plenty of grass, earthworms and so on for the chickens to eat, forming an ecological food chain
4. If raising chickens in an orchard, also pay attention to pest and disease control.
Pest and disease control and grazing should be cleverly arranged and carried out in alternating idle periods, because pesticides are highly toxic and can easily poison chicks. Note that, first, low-toxicity pesticides should be chosen; second, grazing should be done during the safe period, that is, only after the toxicity of the pesticide has passed.
5. Pay attention to listening to weather forecasts and always watch for weather changes, especially in the first one or two weeks of grazing, when protection is even more important; after 3 weeks of age the chickens have strong stress resistance and generally there is little problem.
6. Do a good job of epidemic prevention and disease elimination
Under-tree chickens have extensive contact with the outside world, including woodland and beach land, and may be threatened by infectious diseases at any time. In addition, because the growth period is relatively long, generally requiring 4-5 months before they are ready for market, vaccinations must be carried out on a planned basis to prevent trouble before it happens and to obtain strong immunity.