Want to make money raising chickens? Why not change your mindset?

Misconception 1: Free-range chicken farming doesn't need a chicken coop

Rural free-range chicken farming is mainly based on free-range rearing, but a chicken coop must still be built for the flock. When there is wind, sun, or rain, the coop can provide at least basic protection. Even in rural areas, when farmers keep a dozen or so chickens at home, they still build a simple chicken shed, let alone chicken farmers raising them in flocks.

Misconception 2: Free-range chicken farming cannot use medication

When raising chickens, especially on a large scale, it is almost impossible to ensure the flock is 100% free of disease. Of course, for a few chickens raised at home in rural areas, if they get sick and die, so be it; even if they all die, the keeper may not feel too bad. But turning chicken farming into astartup projectis a completely different matter. If the flock gets sick, are you just going to watch them die in batches? Even if some diseases don't kill the chickens, they can cause slow growth or even stop growth, and all of that costs the chicken farmer real money. So when chickens get sick, medication must be given as soon as possible for treatment.

Misconception 3: Raising free-range chickens doesn't require vaccinations

For a few chickens raised at home, there is naturally no need to consider vaccinations, but if real chicken farmers want to reduce the risks of raising chickens, the vaccinations that should be done still need to be done. Otherwise, once the flock catches diseases such as avian influenza or Newcastle disease, it is very normal for the whole flock to be wiped out overnight. Free-range chickens are more likely to come into contact with various viruses and bacteria in the outside world, so vaccines are also indispensable.

Misconception 4: Chickens given veterinary drugs are not healthy chickens

Many people criticize giving medication to chickens. In fact, the chicken farming industry also has national standards. Which drugs can be used and which cannot are clearly stipulated. Even chickens raised in our country for export to the EU and Japan are still given medication. Therefore, whether a chicken is healthy cannot be judged by whether medication was used. As long as its drug residues meet the standards, it complies with national standards. Of course, if chicken farmers do a good job at every stage and ensure the flock uses little or almost no medication, the chickens raised this way will be more competitive in the market.

Misconception 5: Free-range chicken farming doesn't feed compound feed

Free-range chicken farming includes a stage of letting the flock forage on their own, but what is actually available for chickens to eat in the wild is fairly limited, and it cannot ensure balanced nutrition for the flock. Therefore, supplemental feeding with compound feed for the flock is essential.

Misconception 6: Free-range chicken farming is sure to lose money

It cannot be denied that the chicken farming market has not been good in recent years, but whenever I see some people commenting under articles and dismissing the whole chicken farming project with one sweeping statement, believing that raising chickens is sure not to make money, I want to step forward and say a few words. At present, the level of intensification in China's chicken farming is very low, and small and medium-sized chicken farmers exist in large numbers. Those who say chicken farming is sure to lose money are generally failures eliminated by the market. But it cannot be denied that these small and medium-sized farmers have similar positioning and no differentiation, and only those chicken farmers who innovate with brands can go further.

(Excellence in the poultry business)