A brief introduction to the Technology of raising Chicken under Forest with good Ecological Circulation

Raising chickens under the forest

The chicken under forest is a new ecological breeding mode of raising Chai chicken by using the advantages of land resources under forest and forest shade. While increasing the added value of fruit trees and eggs, a virtuous circle of mutual promotion and mutual benefit between laying hens and fruit forests has also been established.

1. Forest land selection

Generally, it is better to raise chickens in the middle forest and forest (fruit) age of 3~5 years, especially in the middle forest where the canopy is sparse, the canopy is high, the shade degree of the forest is 60%~70%, and the weeds and insects are abundant. Too dense branches and leaves, shade large woodland, its poor light transmission, is not conducive to the growth of chickens.

Fruit trees such as peaches and pears, which do not bear fruit and bear little fruit, are suitable for planting grass and raising chickens. Mulberry gardens, citrus orchards and loquat forests are also good places for raising chickens. The peach, pear and other fruit trees that have been bearing fruit will rot after some fruits fall during the fruiting period, and chickens are easy to be poisoned after eating rotten fruits. Therefore, this kind of forest land is not suitable for chickens.

2. Variety selection

The chicken under forest has the characteristic of "stocking and supplementary feeding". The chicken under forest should be raised by selecting the varieties approved by the state and local varieties and the varieties crossed between local chicken breeds and local chicken breeds accounting for more than 75%. These breeds of chickens have strong adaptability, strong disease resistance, strong foraging ability, tolerance to coarse feeding, medium size, bright coat color, high shin, slender, large crown, red face, excellent quality and good flavor.

3. Feed selection

Forest chickens can choose to meet the green food standards of feed and additives for feeding. During stocking period, plant protein feed can be supplemented. Chickens should use less or no animal feed such as fish meal during finishing period, and toxic and harmful additives and veterinary drugs with residues are prohibited. In addition, forage grass, leaves, seeds, insects and microbial preparations can be reasonably used to ferment feed and agricultural and sideline products to feed chickens.

Chicken under the forest, chicken can feed on rich insects, grass, minerals, etc. in the forest to meet the body's demand for this part of nutrients, while energy, protein, trace elements, etc. need to be obtained through supplementary feeding.

The feeding habits of chickens should be fully considered besides the trampling tolerance of forage grass when planting forage grass, and the planting proportion of leguminous and tender forage grass should be increased. Suitable for chicken grass seeds such as chicory, alfalfa, ryegrass, ecumenaria, Chinese milk vetch, red clover, white clover, bitter vegetables and so on.

4. Cultivation density

The density of chicken breeding under forest can be determined according to the content of nitrogen and phosphorus discharged by chicken and the self-cleaning ability of forest soil.

Under the premise of not destroying soil environment and realizing good ecological cycle, it is appropriate to stock 5 chickens per 667m2 forest land. This is the stocking density determined according to the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus emitted by chicken manure.

5. Precautions

In addition to raising and managing chickens under the forest, we should coordinate the relationship between breeding and ecological environment so as to make the breeding industry develop healthily and continuously. Forest chickens should be used scientifically and rationally, and breeding benefits should not be exchanged at the expense of ecological benefits.

Pecking and trampling of chickens can cause mechanical damage to undergrowth vegetation when stocking under forest. When the density of chickens under forest is too high, chickens will dig at the roots of trees, which will cause damage to the roots of trees. The results showed that if the density of forest cultivation was too high, the digging behavior of chickens would destroy the understory resources greatly, and the serious situation would cause no grass in the forest and uneven understory land.

Under the condition of high density culture, the discharge of manure will exceed the purification capacity of soil itself, and the soil will form nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment area after absorbing a large amount of chicken manure. Excessive fertility of soil will destroy the ecological balance of undergrowth culture, affect the growth of trees and cause serious damage to the environment. To develop chicken farming under forest, we must pay great attention to the influence of breeding on forest ecological environment.