What are the key points of free-range chicken farming technology? Explained clearly in one article
In rural areas, free-range chickens are basically kept by scattered backyard farmers, in small numbers, mainly for free-range eggs, and secondly for free-range chicken meat. For rural scattered farmers, they can raise them very well without any farming technology; in fact, it is just that the number raised is small. For those farmers engaged in large-scale farming, there are several points that are very important in raising free-range chickens. Today, the editor brings you the key technical points for raising free-range chickens. Let's take a look below!
1. Site disinfection
The first step in raising free-range chickens is to choose a good farming site. Free-range chickens are suited to growing in dry, noise-free places with good ventilation and relatively sufficient light. After choosing the farming site, the chicken coop must be disinfected immediately, because various pathogens may exist in the site and harm the growth of free-range chickens. This step is very important. If disinfection is not carried out in time, it will have a relatively large impact on later management and disease prevention and control. When disinfecting, it must be comprehensive and thorough, cleaning the chicken coop in all respects, and after the water dries, carry out disinfection and sealing to eliminate pathogens in the site.
2. Feed formulation
If you want free-range chickens to grow normally and improve the meat quality of free-range chickens, then the most important thing is to have a reasonable feed formulation method. If feed is supplied unreasonably, the nutrition of free-range chickens will be imbalanced, causing hindered growth, poor appearance, and a thin and light body. Moreover, supplementing feed later will also find it very difficult to make up for this, so when raising free-range chickens, the nutritional formulation in the feed must be well controlled. Pay attention to the addition of trace elements and mix in grain feeds such as corn. A reasonable feed formulation can not only promote the growth of free-range chickens, but also effectively reduce feed costs.
3. Proper grazing
The growth of free-range chickens is purely natural, which means that when feeding feed, apart from a small amount of trace elements, no complete compound feed at all can be fed. However, for the normal growth of free-range chickens, grazing work is necessary. When the chicks grow to one month old, grazing can begin, allowing them to forage on their own. However, during the first three weeks, they must not be allowed to run into relatively complex woodland areas. Pay attention to observing the weather. If there are signs of rain, it is not suitable to graze. On sunny days, they can go out early and return late. If the weather changes suddenly during grazing, they should be driven back to the chicken coop in time. Free-range chickens must not be left in severe weather for too long.
4. Preventing influenza
Raising free-range chickens will encounter many diseases, but the most serious among them is avian influenza. Avian influenza is extremely harmful to free-range chickens, spreads extremely quickly, and has extremely high morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, in disease prevention and control, influenza is our primary target. As long as one free-range chicken is infected with influenza, there will be an 80% chance of causing all of them to be infected. So in farming, we must do a good job in prevention work. We can add some herbs to the feed and regularly vaccinate. Enhance the disease resistance of free-range chickens, improve immunity, do a good job in feeding management, and reduce the incidence rate.
The above is the editor's brief introduction to the key technical points of free-range chicken farming. The economic benefits of raising free-range chickens are very good, and it is not very difficult to raise them. However, everyone also needs to have certain farming and management skills to enable free-range chickens to grow better and have more delicious meat. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you everyone for reading and supporting.