Free range chicken farming

Raising free-range chickens is an eco-friendly farming method that provides a more natural living environment and food source. However, free-range chicken farming also requires us to pay attention to some key issues to ensure the health and production efficiency of the flock. Let’s talk about free-range chicken farming.

1. Chicks cannot be raised in the wild

Chicks have poor ability to regulate body temperature. The free-range environment is a natural one, and the surrounding environment changes at any time, which can easily cause stress death in chicks. Moreover, the chicks are small in size, and free-range farming increases the difficulty of management.

2. Free range chickens are seasonal

Cold seasons are not suitable for free-range breeding, so the free-range breeding time is controlled from March to September each year. The other months can be used to strengthen the ability of brooding or indoor breeding.

3. Observe weather changes

The characteristic of free-range farming is that chickens are placed in a natural environment, so changes in the environment must be taken into consideration. Use weather forecasts or observe the weather or some other natural phenomena to determine what the weather will be like at the next moment to prevent chickens from being harmed by rain or snow.

4. Stocking density should be appropriate

It is unwise to have too high a stocking density, as this will not only affect the chickens' range of activities, but more importantly, a large amount of chicken excrement may damage the grazing environment. Excessive pecking of green fodder by native chickens may cause irreversible damage to the grazing area, making it impossible to recycle.

5. Build sheds for grazing in the wild

When building a shed, you should choose a place that is sheltered from the wind, facing the sun, and has high, dry and flat terrain. You can use local materials to build a shed, as long as it can shelter from rain and provide shade during the day and provide adequate insulation at night.

6. Conduct pasture training while grazing

During the grazing process, consciously sprinkle a small amount of chicken pellets and grains on the grass or slopes, knock on the feed bowl or blow a whistle while scattering to form a conditioned reflex so that the chickens will have something to eat after hearing the sound, which will facilitate the grazing later.

7. Pay attention to supplementary feeding during grazing

Green fodder is not a panacea, and free-range cannot fully meet the growth needs of chickens. Artificial feed should be formulated according to the natural materials eaten by chickens during free-range period to achieve comprehensive nutrition for chickens.

8. The chickens must be collected every evening during grazing.

Based on the grazing situation, you can consider whether to feed supplementary food, count the number of sheep, observe their health status, and summarize the daily grazing situation.

That’s it