How to raise free-range native chickens? Master these five feeding key points

Select improved breeds. A superior breed is the foundation for raising high-quality meat chickens. You should choose to raise famous local breeds with colored feathers that have thin skin and fine bones, plump muscles, delicious meat, strong resistance, and small to medium body size. These can be Three-Yellow chickens or Mahua Green-Foot chickens, such as Palace Yellow chickens, Henan Gushi chickens, Guangxi Cenxi Three-Yellow chickens, and Zhejiang Xianju chickens and other excellent famous chickens from various places. You can also, according to local raising habits and market consumer demand, breed improved meat chicken varieties suitable for local raising.

Focus on grazing. Grazing is one of the important measures for improving the meat quality of meat chickens. The brooding technical requirements for high-quality free-range native chickens are no different from those for fast-growing large meat chickens. Brood indoors for about 30 days, then move them into a large shed for raising. Generally, grazing begins at 30 days of age in summer, 45 days of age in spring and autumn, and 50-60 days of age in cold winter. The release site should ideally be selected in bamboo groves, orchards, tea gardens, mulberry fields, and similar places with high, dry terrain, shelter from wind and sun exposure, a quiet environment, convenient drinking water, no pollution, and no animal pests. The chickens can eat the pests and weeds in the above “four gardens” and also accumulate

fertilizer for the “four gardens.” A sand pit can be set up in the grazing area to let the chickens take sand baths. Grass sheds or plastic tunnels for rain shelter, shade, and cold protection should also be built. Meat chickens go out early and return late. The grazing density is 50-70 birds/mu, and each flock should preferably be about 500 birds. To prevent chickens from getting lost or harming nearby crops, fences can be set up in the grazing area, and grazing can continue until sale. Strengthening grazing can improve the firmness of chicken meat, promote a strong physique and tight, glossy feathers; they can also eat green grass, grass seeds, dead leaves, insects, and flies, saving feed and improving meat quality. If conditions permit, you can move to a new place after grazing one batch of chickens, which helps both disease prevention and the chickens' foraging.

Feed skillfully. Feed is an important factor affecting meat quality. During the brooding period, high-quality native chickens should be fed easily digestible, nutritionally complete complete feed for chicks. Because their growth rate is slower, the crude protein content in the feed should be 2 percentage points lower than complete feed for fast-growing large broiler chicks, and they should be fed small amounts more frequently to promote good growth and development of the chicks. During the growing and grazing periods, feed more green feed, agricultural by-products, and local coarse grains to improve meat quality and reduce feed costs. Generally, only supplemental complete feed is given after the chickens return late. In the 1-2 weeks before sale, if the chickens are relatively thin, increase the amount of complete feed and restrict grazing for moderate fattening. In the middle and late stages, animal-based feeds such as silkworm pupae, fish meal, and meat meal must not be added to the complete feed. Limit the use of feeds such as rapeseed meal and cottonseed meal that have adverse effects on meat quality and meat color. Do not add synthetic pigments, chemically synthesized non-nutritive additives, or drugs. Appropriate amounts of natural substances such as orange peel powder, pine needle powder, garlic, ginger, fennel, cinnamon, and tea residue should be added to change meat color, improve meat quality, and increase freshness.

Strict epidemic prevention. Doing a good job in epidemic prevention and disease elimination is an important guarantee for raising high-quality free-range native chickens well. Under normal circumstances, free-range native chickens have strong disease resistance and fewer cases than confined fast-growing large meat chickens. However, because their raising period is long and they graze in the wild, they have many opportunities to contact pathogens. Therefore, sanitation, disinfection, and epidemic prevention work must be strictly carried out according to chicken raising requirements without the slightest slackness. According to local realities, focus on the following epidemic prevention work. The recommended immunization program is shown in Table 1. In addition, special attention should be paid to preventing and treating coccidiosis, leukocytozoonosis, and digestive tract parasitic diseases. Check frequently, and once they occur, expel them in time. In the middle and late stages of meat chicken disease prevention and treatment, use synthetic drugs as little as possible, and use more Chinese herbal medicines and biological control to reduce and control drug residues in chicken meat.

Sell at the right time. A suitable raising period is an important part of improving meat quality. If the raising period is too short, the chicken meat has a high moisture content, insufficient accumulation of nutrients, and low levels of umami substances and aromatic substances. The meat quality is poor and the taste is not fresh, failing to meet the standard of high-quality native chickens. If the raising period is too long, the muscle fibers become too old and the raising cost is too high, which is not worthwhile. According to the growth physiology and nutrient accumulation characteristics of native chickens, as well as the characteristics that roosters grow faster than hens and mature sexually earlier, determine the market time as 100 days for small-type meat chicken roosters and 120 days for hens; 110 days for medium-type meat chicken roosters and 130 days for hens. At this time, the body weight of the marketed chickens and the accumulation of nutrients, umami substances, and aromatic substances in the chicken meat have basically reached the content standards of adult chickens, and the meat quality is still relatively tender. This is a relatively good balance among body weight, quality, and cost.