Grass chickens are in high demand in the market, and skillful raising can achieve high profits
Grass chickens (also known as local native chickens) have wide adaptability, strong foraging ability, tolerate extensive management, and are easy to raise. Their skin is thin and bones are fine, and the meat is delicious, tender, fragrant and tasty; they are a natural green food and are deeply favored by consumers. Judging from the current market conditions, the market price of live grass chickens is generally more than 1 times that of broiler chickens, and the price per kilogram of eggs is about 5 yuan higher than that of eggs from introduced breeds. Therefore, grass chickens have become a major farming project actively developed by many farmers. However, in order to make grass chickens gain weight quickly and reach market earlier, some farmers feed only a single type of concentrate throughout the period, ignoring the grass chicken's instinct to eat green grass. As a result, feed costs increase, and profits are lower than those of flocks fed a diet supplemented with green and roughage feed. As feed prices continue to rise, in order to reduce feed costs, the author has proved through repeated production practice that adding a certain proportion of green and roughage feed to a complete feed made from various concentrates can significantly increase the daily feed intake and disease resistance of grass chickens, and the average profit per bird is 1.5-2 yuan more than that of flocks not fed green and roughage feed. The specific feeding measures are described below.
1 Raising of young grass chicks
After young grass chicks are placed in the house, they can be given drinking water after 1-2 hours. At the first drinking, 5% glucose can be added to the water to enhance the chickens' physique, relieve stress, and facilitate the passage of meconium. The water temperature should generally be close to the house temperature (16-20°C). From 1 to 3 days after hatching, the starter feed should be mainly concentrate, using @#@245@#@, cornmeal or broken rice scattered on the feed cloth or in the trough, allowing them to eat freely. After 4 days of age, an appropriate amount of fresh green and tender vegetables or forage grasses can be added to the concentrate. The feeding method is to mix the concentrate into a complete feed and then add about 20% green feed, feeding small amounts frequently, ensuring that the chicks have sufficient feed intake to meet their needs for various vitamins. Feeding green feed at this time can help the chicks form a good conditioned reflex toward food and lay the foundation for foraging for grass-type food in pasture after leaving the brooder. The suitable stocking density per square meter in the chicken house is: 50-40 birds at 10 days of age, 40 birds at 20 days of age, 30 birds at 30 days of age, and 15 birds at 60 days of age. This can both make full use of the chicken house space and avoid restricting chick activity or causing poor air quality and excessive humidity in the house.
The control of temperature in the house is most important during the brooding period. The specific requirements are 33-31°C at 0-1 weeks of age, 30-25°C at 2-3 weeks of age, and then 25-20°C afterward. If the house temperature cannot reach this, it should be appropriately heated. The relative humidity in the house should preferably be 55%-65%. During the first week after hatching, the daily lighting should be 20-23 hours; from the second week onward, the daily lighting can be reduced to 16-13 hours, and afterward natural lighting duration should be gradually adopted. Generally, the light bulbs should be 2 m above the ground, and 1.5-2 W per square meter is sufficient.
2 Raising during the growing period
The growing period of grass chickens refers to the period from 60 to 130 days of age. During the growing period, males and females should be raised in separate pens, with 10-8 birds per square meter of chicken house, which facilitates management and reduces feed consumption.
2.1 Raising male chickens during the growing period Small male chickens generally can reach a body weight of 1-1.2 kg at 100-120 days of age and can then be marketed. In order to make small male chickens meet the commercial body weight requirement on schedule, they should be fed a complete compound feed in terms of feeding. Feed formula: corn 60%, soybean cake 20%, wheat bran 10%, shell powder 6.5%, fish meal 3%, multivitamins, trace elements, etc. 0.3%, salt 0.2%. Farmers with the conditions can adopt grazing, and during grazing supplement with complete compound feed in the morning and evening. For flocks that cannot be grazed, the ratio of green and roughage feed to complete feed in the daily diet is 1:1. The feeding method is to first feed the flock only the complete feed, and after 1 hour, place an equal amount of green and roughage feed in the feed bucket for the flock to eat freely. During the 15 days before marketing, the amount of green and roughage feed can be appropriately reduced, while increasing the amount and proportion of complete feed, with green and roughage feed reduced to below 10%. This helps shorten the fattening period and increase daily weight gain.
2.2 Raising female chickens during the growing period should adopt restricted feeding, mainly by appropriately reducing the proportion of protein and energy in the daily diet. Feed formula: corn 52%, soybean cake 10%, wheat bran 15%, rice bran 14.5%, shell powder 7%, fish meal 1%, multivitamins, trace elements, etc. 0.3%, salt 0.2%. In terms of management, they should be moved to another group at the proper time. At 120 days of age, the young female chickens can be transferred to the laying hen house for raising. If they are transferred again at the start of laying, stress reactions are likely to occur and affect the flock's laying rate. Transfer should be carried out in the evening, and the chickens should be kept as quiet as possible.
3 Raising laying hens
Laying hen feed formula: corn 58%, soybean cake 20%, wheat bran 10%, bone powder and shell powder 7.5% each, fish meal 4%, multivitamins and trace elements 0.3% each, salt 0.2%. The feed formula should be adjusted in a timely manner according to the hens' egg production level to meet the nutritional needs of chickens during the laying period. Every afternoon, sand grains can be placed in the feed for the flock to eat freely, so as to enhance the chickens' digestive function. The temperature in the chicken house should be maintained at 13-24°C; the daily lighting time should be 14-16 hours, and the light intensity should be about 2.5 W per square meter, while the chicken house should also be kept quiet.
4 Strengthen disinfection and epidemic prevention Before chicks are introduced, the chicken house should be thoroughly cleaned, then fumigated and disinfected with formalin plus potassium permanganate (per cubic meter of space, use 20 ml formalin plus 20 ml water plus 12 g potassium permanganate) for 24 hours. The environment and tools should also be disinfected with quicklime or caustic soda. At 1 day of age, subcutaneous injection of Marek's disease vaccine; at 10-12 days of age, intramuscular injection of the small triple vaccine (infectious bursal disease, Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis) oil emulsion vaccine; at 20-40 days of age, add the anticoccidial drug robenidine to the feed (mix 50-60 g per 100 kg of feed, mix evenly); at 70 days of age, intramuscular injection of strain I Newcastle disease vaccine and deworming at the same time; at 130 days of age, intramuscular injection of Newcastle disease oil emulsion vaccine and deworming again; ordinarily, feed antibiotic drugs once every 15 days.