A Comprehensive Analysis of the Key Technical Points of Raising Chickens in Tea Gardens

Raising chickens in tea gardens is a new type of farming method that starts with improving the ecological structure of the tea garden. It can create good benefits. Below, the editor of Tuliu.com will introduce to everyone the advantages and key technical points of raising chickens in tea gardens.

1. Advantages of raising chickens in tea gardens

Using tea leaves to raise chickens certainly has its own advantages. For example, the special substances contained in tea leaves, such as tea polyphenols, caffeine, and alkaloids, all have very good bactericidal and anti-inflammatory effects. Previously, some unscrupulous farmers would add excessive antibiotics to chicken feed. Doing so is both wasteful and harmful to the chickens' health, so we do not recommend it. Moreover, if antibiotic feeding begins shortly before the chickens go to market, the drug residues in the chickens' bodies will also affect human health, causing drug resistance and making people more susceptible to invasion by pathogens. Poultry fed with tea leaves will not have this problem. The special anti-inflammatory and bactericidal substances in tea leaves are typical plant fungicides. In seasons when epidemics occur frequently, we should give more consideration to using tea leaves to raise chickens. This is not only healthy, but can also save production costs and increase farm profits.

2. Key technical points of raising chickens in tea gardens

1. Planning and design for raising chickens in tea gardens

According to conditions such as the roads, plots, and terrain of the tea garden, divide it into several blocks, with each block separated by wire mesh or other fencing. The surrounding forest land and vegetable gardens of the tea garden can also be included together, providing free-range space for a flock of 1000-2000 chickens. From near to far, divide the areas into a chick rearing area, a young chicken free-range area, and an adult chicken free-range area. Tea gardens younger than 3 years old are not suitable for releasing chickens because the trees are still small. In the tea garden free-range areas, set up several sheds in each block using felt as rain (heat) shelters, and place drinkers, feed buckets, and so on beside the sheds.

2. Selection of chicken breeds

The selection of chicken breeds for tea garden farming is crucial and should be determined according to market demand. If mainly supplying the daily household consumption market, the body weight of commercial chickens only needs to be 500-1000 grams, so small-bodied breeds should be selected, such as Guangdong Sanhuang chicken and Guangxi Mahuang chicken. If supplying the Spring Festival market, large-bodied breeds should be selected, such as Xingza 882 and others.

3. Heat preservation and rearing of chicks

The area of the heated house is determined according to the rearing quantity. Calculate at 30 chicks per square meter, divide the heated house into several small zones, and design each small zone to raise 500-700 chickens. If the tea garden is in front of or behind a house, use the existing pens. If the tea garden is a certain distance from home, choose a sunny, wind-sheltered place with dry ground, sufficient water, and convenient transportation to build the heated house. Chicks aged 1-3 weeks have poor resistance and need to be raised indoors. They cannot be directly released in the tea garden, so a comfortable growing environment must be created to lay the foundation for their rapid growth. The specific rearing methods are the same as cage rearing.

4. Free-range rearing of young chickens, passing the temperature transition stage well

When the outside temperature is low and the temperature difference between inside and outside is large, because chicks have low stress resistance and poor regulating ability, they cannot adapt to environmental changes, so release them on warm, sunny days. For the first few days, release them for 2-4 hours each day, then gradually increase the release time day by day so that the chicks gradually adapt to environmental changes. In the first week, release 300-500 chickens per mu of tea garden, then gradually reduce the stocking density to about 100 per mu.

5. Free-range rearing of the flock

During the peak production period of spring tea (March-May), the stocking density should also be reduced, with 50-100 chickens released per mu. Limit the range of activity of the flock within the tea garden and carry out rotational grazing by blocks. The free-range rearing cycle in the tea garden is generally about 1 month, so that chicken manure can fertilize the tea garden and feed earthworms, insects, and so on. When the next batch of chicks arrives, there will again be more grass, earthworms, and so on for the chickens to eat, forming an ecological food chain in this repeated cycle and achieving a double harvest of chickens and tea.