Free range poultry farmers and breeders have long-relied on range nets to keep their broods happy and healthy. Aside from giving them good protection from askals, pusakals, and other wild predators, it allows chickens to freely roam around a safe and clean perimeter where all they need to grow are always within reach.
Today, more are going ‘old school’ considering the benefits of letting chickens grow normally just as how it used to be back in the day before more modern farming technologies. Letting your chickens grow normally, scratching around the barnyard and foraging for insects, seeds and feeds has become the best way to care for them. And for new chicken farmers and cockfighting breeders, raising chickens in a free range manner is not at all difficult if you have the right items and supplies on hand.
Free range nets
While some poultry raisers have long embraced confining their chickens in secured chicken pens and coops, total free range results in bigger eggs, healthier broods, more nutritious meat and increasing profits!
Of course, the first thing you’ll need when shifting to free range is a reliable range net you can install and serve as a fence that secures your perimeter. These are strong and flexible poultry netting that keeps out rodents and other wild predators away from your chickens and depending on how big your chickens are, considering the right mesh size is important.
In the country, Philippine Ranging Nets offers quality free range nets ranging from 0.5 inch hole sizes for day to week-old chickens, to two inches for those that are two months or older. You may use both wood or metal poles to attach your range nets for your poultry fence or framing.
Waterer and feeder
Aside from range nets, you’d want to hang waterers and feeders which your chickens can’t roost on, poop, or make dirty. Four standard feeders with 25 feet of trough space for every 100 chickens will do the trick, and hanging waterers eight feet high for the same number of birds is enough. More than that and you’ll need an automatic waterer system to keep your brood from being thirsty.
Feed
Choosing the right kind of feed for your chickens depends on how old they are. There are chick starters and then there are higher-protein layer feeds for hens that already lay eggs. Growers, broilers, and finishers are feeds intended for chickens that will be sold as meat in the market but you may also make your own feeds made up of organic seeds and fruit to give your chickens some needed electrolytes.
Scratch
Chickens love corn and combining kernels with oats, wheat and rye will give your chickens a delicious treat! Scratch is perfect for free ranging as you can just simply scatter them on the ground and let your chickens roam around freely to find them for their own easter egg hunt (pun intended). Add grit or small stones and sand to your chicken scratch so they can store feeds in their crop and help them break down food.
Bedding
In the evenings, make a comfy bedding for your chickens using wood shavings, straw, or hay but make sure no insects can breed on them and that they can act like a sponge for moisture. Good beddings made of pine shavings allow your chickens to rest their feet and breast muscles while nesting and keeps them warm during colder weather.
Start free ranging now and keep your chickens healthier and happier. For your free range needs including range nets and shade nets that will keep your chickens protected from hotter days, check out Philippine Ranging Nets products and order via [email protected] or call +63977 007 0228 to know more.
Philippine Ranging Nets provide Filipino-made multi-purpose nets mainly used for free ranging chickens and other poultry. Trusted by top-breeders, PRN’s top quality affordable ranging nets are available nationwide.
