What are the common farming methods used for raising chickens?

Broiler chickens are one of the most common types of meat at present, and there are a great many farmers raising them, which has also led to a diversification of farming methods. China's terrain is rather complex, and chicken farmers are spread across all regions, so what are the currently common methods of raising chickens? Let's take a look below!

1. Cage rearing

Cage rearing is generally more suitable for raising laying hens. The hens are separated and raised in cages, with feeders prepared inside the cage, the bottom relatively sloped, and an egg outlet reserved, with a dedicated groove outside, so that after the eggs roll out, they just wait for someone to collect them. This method greatly reduces the egg-collection process in laying hen farming and also lowers the egg breakage rate. It is currently widely favored by laying hen farmers, since all they have to do each day is collect eggs along the groove. Feeding is also fairly simple and convenient, as there are dedicated feed troughs where you just need to put the feed.

2. Greenhouse rearing

Greenhouses are simple and affordable to build, and chickens do not easily damage them. A large number of broiler chickens can be raised at one time, so greenhouse rearing is currently loved by many people, especially when early-stage funds are insufficient, this is even the first choice. With simple stick supports plus plastic sheeting and the like, a greenhouse can be built for just a few hundred yuan, and it is also relatively convenient to modify, does not take up much space, and is easy to assemble and disassemble. However, if the local temperature is relatively high, this method is generally not very recommended, because it is not ideal in terms of heat preservation and ventilation.

3. Confined rearing

This is currently one of the mainstream methods of raising chickens. What people usually call chicken houses or chicken farms basically refers to the confined rearing form. Chickens raised in confinement have a higher breeding survival rate, and secondly, their safety is guaranteed, as they are not easily affected by external factors, and the facilities are relatively complete, with fattening results especially excellent. However, hygiene and disinfection need to be done more frequently, otherwise the incidence of chicken diseases will be relatively high. Secondly, the price of confined-reared chickens cannot go up, and the approach is to win by quantity, so it is generally more cost-effective to use this method once farming reaches a certain scale. If you only have a few dozen birds, free-range them and just keep a chicken house; there is no need to spend money specifically to renovate the chicken house.

4. Free-range rearing

This has been emerging strongly at present, especially in recent years, and this model is very popular. Many people have been influenced by words like natural, wild, and native chicken, and think this has prospects, so they join in. Choose a relatively good piece of land, and orchards, woodland, and hillside land can all be considered, then set up netting properly to prevent the chickens from running out, set up fixed locations for the chickens to eat and drink water, then feed them every day, and let the chickens eat on their own the rest of the time. Regularly check whether the netting that has been set up is damaged, so as to prevent the raised chickens from running out.

The above are the commonly used methods of raising chickens. Everyone can see which method is suitable for farming in their own area. You can consider a farming method that suits you from multiple aspects such as weather, environment, and terrain.