CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to manage free-range chickens in summer?

How to manage free-range chickens in summer?

1. Heatstroke prevention and cooling:

When people think of summer, their first instinct is heat. Indeed, the average temperature in summer can reach around 40 degrees, which is unbearable for humans, let alone chickens. The thick hair makes chickens unbearable. Therefore, when we feed native chickens in summer, we must build a cool chicken shed for them, which can effectively prevent the death of native chickens due to heat stroke.

In addition, in the summer, due to the hot weather, the food intake of native chickens will also drop significantly. At this time, in order to keep the nutrition of native chickens up, we must choose to feed them with concentrated feed. This can ensure that the native chickens can keep up with the nutrition even when the amount of feed they eat is very small, thus providing the necessary energy for their later growth.

2. Enrich your diet:

In the hot noon, we can use fine feed. In the evening, we can take advantage of the setting sun, when the weather starts to get cooler and the chickens' appetite increases, so we can increase the feed. And at dawn, we should let the free-range chickens out to let them exercise more during this period of time. When it is hot, they should go to the shade to rest.

In fact, farmers who have the conditions can drive the free-range chickens to the woods in the summer. Because the woods can provide good shade. And the fallen leaves from previous years can produce rich organic matter after being corroded by the dark and humid environment, which is very conducive to the growth of insects such as earthworms. These insects are the best food for free-range chickens.

3. Ventilation and reduction of breeding density:

If you don't have this condition, you can also choose to spray water into the chicken coop, whitewash the walls, or open the shields on all sides of the chicken coop in time to achieve timely ventilation. These measures can also play a good role in preventing heatstroke. We can also reduce the density of raising native chickens to allow the air in the chicken coop to circulate in time, which is also a good method.

4. Ensure the water source is clean and replenish water in time:

In addition, the hot summer temperatures will also cause the water in the chickens to evaporate quickly. At this time, we must provide enough water so that the chickens can have enough water to drink. Generally, during the high temperatures in summer, the amount of water that chickens drink is about 3 to 4 times the usual amount. Therefore, we must ensure that free-range chickens can get enough drinking water in time within 24 hours.

The requirements for water are not too picky. As long as the water temperature is appropriate, it should not be too high or too low, and should be maintained at around ten degrees. Some farmers want to use cold water to cool down the chickens, but this is wrong. You cannot use frozen water to cool down the chickens because the weather is hot. This is likely to cause diarrhea in the chickens, which will increase the mortality rate.

So the appropriate temperature is good. For the water for feeding native chickens, it is best to change it every two hours. Because there are many chickens drinking water, often after the previous chicken drinks, it will bring in a lot of garbage, making the water very turbid.

In order to ensure that free-range chickens can drink the cleanest water, we need to change the water in a timely manner within an appropriate period of time. Generally, it is best to change the water every 2 hours. Don't be bothered by it. If the chickens drink too much water, the water source will soon be polluted, so it is necessary to change the water in time.

5. Clean up feces in time:

In the hot summer, many things will rot quickly. Large-scale free-range chickens will inevitably produce a lot of feces. In addition, during this period, because of the hot weather, the intestinal digestion of chickens is not very good, and the chicken feces are often thin and easy to ferment, thus producing toxic gases such as ammonia.

So at this time, we must pay attention to cleaning up the chicken manure. We can consider processing them in a centralized manner, and then after sufficient fermentation, they can be used as good organic fertilizer for the fields. This is very beneficial to the growth of crops, and for farmers, it can save money on fertilizers, which is really killing two birds with one stone.

6. Do a good job of disinfection:

In addition, in the hot summer weather, bacteria often breed. This requires us to disinfect the chicken house, especially the chicken trough. Because the food here is relatively abundant, it is easy to provide nutrients for bacteria to survive, so the disinfection must be thorough to prevent the chickens from getting sick from the mouth. The amount of food fed at one time should not be too much, and the chickens can finish the feed in 20 minutes. The principle of feeding follows the choice of more times and less amount.

Here we recommend using a spray disinfection device to complete the disinfection work, because the spray disinfection device can not only kill pathogens and purify the air, but also have a cooling effect, generally can reduce about 4 degrees Celsius, so it is an ideal disinfection device.

Not only do we need to disinfect the chicken house, we also need to pay attention to strict inspection of the chicken feed. Generally speaking, we should not feed the chickens moldy and unclean feed just to save money, as this will lead to the death of the chickens. So we must pay attention to these details to avoid causing great losses and regrets.