What basic conditions should be considered when raising Silkie chickens

The Silkie chicken, whose ancestors came from remote deep mountains and ridges, has a reputation that has long won people's hearts, making it a rather outstanding type of poultry. Silkie chickens have a large body, a relatively small head, a long neck, sturdy bones, and well-developed muscles; their skin is black, and the surface of the bones has a black membrane. Newly hatched chicks have down, and some people also call them feathered-foot chickens. Male Silkie chickens are tall and large, with big, spirited eyes, glossy feathers, orange-yellow back feathers, and black tail feathers. Adult hens are plump, with feathers mostly yellow-brown, and some are mottled, white, black, and so on.

Silkie chickens tolerate coarse feed, have strong disease resistance, and fatten well. Male chickens reach sexual maturity at 120 days of age, and adult males weigh about 2.5 kg. Adult hens weigh about 1.8 kg and begin laying at 160-180 days of age. Adult hens generally lay about 160 eggs per year.

There are many factors to consider in Silkie chicken farming, and the choice of environment requires particular attention. It should be beneficial for brooding in houses that are warm in winter and cool in summer, with 15 chickens per square meter in winter and 12 per square meter in summer; the number of chickens to be introduced should be determined by the house area, and production should be planned. For the free-range area, choose places with good forest and grass vegetation, many insects and ants, and good isolation conditions as much as possible. If conditions permit, plant some good-quality forage grasses as well as miscellaneous grains such as sweet potato, corn, sorghum, cassava, and bean pods to supplement the chickens' feed. Large-scale farming can also plant forage grass for feeding; perennial grasses are best to avoid sowing every year, and they are also required to have many branches and tillers, strong regrowth ability, strong adaptability, and good palatability. Suitable grass species include Muxu grass, Kumai grass, Juju grass, and so on. Prepare the mountain land for grazing (or orchards, rice fields, etc.) and set up fencing well.

The construction of the chicken house should use local materials such as adobe and stone, wood boards, bamboo, and so on. Whether the chicken house is built scientifically and reasonably directly affects the display of broiler production capacity and the size of chicken-raising profits, so attention must be paid to it. If building a new chicken farm, one should choose a place with dry terrain, good soil quality, facing south with its back to the north, and sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, which is beneficial for keeping warm in winter, ventilation in all seasons, light, and drainage. If the scale is to be expanded, room for development should also be left.

It should be warm in winter and cool in summer. Fencing can use wire mesh or woven bamboo netting; farms with scattered housing and a small raising quantity can do without fencing.

Water and electricity are essential conditions in production for a chicken farm, and when choosing a chicken farm, it must be considered whether the power supply there can meet the needs during peak production. There must not be long power outages, especially during brooding, when the chicken house needs temperature and light; a power outage will cause chicks to die from low temperatures. The water quality must be clean and pollution-free; preferably use deep well water or disinfected tap water. River water, pond water, or water containing excessive chloride ions that has not been disinfected must not be given to chickens to drink.

The chicken farm should be built 1 kilometer or more away from villages or livestock and poultry farms to prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases. Individual chicken-raising households should also not set up chicken houses in areas with frequent passing people or in living areas; it is best to have a small isolation section and, apart from the keepers, prevent outsiders from entering and leaving. The chicken farm should be built 1 kilometer or more away from villages or livestock and poultry farms to prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases. Individual chicken-raising households should also not set up chicken houses in areas with frequent passing people or in living areas; it is best to have a small isolation section and, apart from the keepers, prevent outsiders from entering and leaving.

Farmers raising Silkie chickens should also determine the raising scale according to local natural conditions and in combination with their own financial capacity. How many chickens to raise and how large a chicken farm to build should be clarified in terms of the nature and tasks of the farm, and then the site should be chosen and the chicken house equipment and tools planned. There are diverse types and forms of chicken house buildings and equipment; when choosing, it is necessary both to fully meet the needs of the physiological characteristics of broilers so that they grow quickly and productivity is improved, and to consider durability, convenience for feeding and management, and improvement of work efficiency.