How to manage free-range chickens in autumn and winter

Free-range chicken is a common way of raising chickens, which is generally carried out in woodland. Free rearing can not only let chickens find food on their own, promote the quality of eggs, but also conducive to the growth of trees. Free-range breeding can make chickens get sufficient exercise, enhance their physique, reduce diseases, and save feed costs. So how should we manage it in autumn and winter now? Let's take a look at it with the editor.

1. Ensure the light

With the decrease of daytime in autumn, the lighting time is also shortened, but the demand for light in chickens is relatively large. The light time of chickens should be kept at least 15 hours a day, because the history of raising chickens in our country is very long. According to the economy of some old farmers, the laying rate of chickens will decline significantly in autumn and winter. It is because there is not enough light in autumn and winter, so we want to increase the laying rate of chickens in autumn and winter because of ensuring enough light time. The light should not turn on and off, turn on and off, to ensure that any corner of the chicken house can receive light evenly, at least so that the breeders can clearly see the situation anywhere in the chicken house.

2. Nutrition management

The chicken is relatively weak after laying eggs, and the nutrition in the body is reduced, so it is necessary to provide sufficient nutrition and supplement nutrients after laying eggs. When feeding the feed, the nutrients in the feed should be reasonably prepared, and there should be various nutrients such as protein, vitamins and trace elements in the feed. If there is a lack of certain nutrients, such as trace element calcium, the chicken will produce soft shell or even shell-free eggs, seriously affecting the output and quality of eggs. Although free-range chickens can be properly replenished in the soil, the quantity is far from enough. And when we feed, we should let the chickens eat freely, can not control the feed, and let the chickens eat until they do not eat, so as to prevent undernutrition from affecting the laying rate.

3. Ventilation and heat preservation

The temperature drops in autumn and winter and the air dries gradually, which is very disadvantageous to the growth of chickens. And the environmental impact of the chicken house is relatively great, after the beginning of autumn, it is necessary to strengthen the management of the chicken house and improve the environment of the chicken house. Do a good job of ventilation, because if there is no timely ventilation, a large amount of ammonia will be produced in the henhouse, which will cause the chicken to lack oxygen and cannot breathe. It's very bad for growth. Timely ventilation can ensure that the henhouse can breathe and keep fresh air for chickens to breathe and grow at any time, but we should also pay attention to heat preservation while ventilating, so as to prevent the wind from blowing in during ventilation, causing chickens to catch cold and affecting egg production.

4. Disease prevention and treatment

Autumn and winter is a period of high incidence of various infectious diseases, such as avian influenza, Newcastle disease and so on. These two kinds of diseases do great harm, have a short incubation period, spread very fast, and have a very high mortality rate. Therefore, in autumn and winter, we must do a good job in the management of chicken sheds and strengthen prevention, and bird flu can also be transmitted to humans, making it difficult to treat. Disinfect the henhouse regularly to prevent chickens from coming into contact with wild birds and birds. Reduce the spread of the virus and reduce the incidence of disease in order to ensure the normal growth of chickens.

These are the management methods of free-range chickens in autumn and winter. Free-range chickens need to pay attention to various diseases, among which bird flu is the most harmful in autumn and winter. The above editor also talked about the harm of bird flu, and the previous articles on our website are also devoted to the common diseases of chickens and the introduction of bird flu. If you are interested, you can go to the website to learn more about it! That's all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for your reading and support.