CHOOSING A BREEDING METHOD:
FREE-RANGED OR CLOSED PENS
By Manny Piñol
There has always been this debate among chicken raisers on which method of breeding is better – free-ranged or closed pens.
As a long time chicken breeder myself, I believe that both systems have advantages and disadvantages.
If you breed for the purpose of producing future breeding materials, using the Closed Pen method is the best since you would be able to perfectly identify the parents of your production.
This would allow the breeder to do a repeat breeding should the offsprings meet the desired results.
The disadvantage of this method, however, is that the fowls do not have access to greens and sunlight.
Somehow, the absence of grass and sunlight affects egg production.
The free-range breeding, on the other hand, is the best system if your intention is to produce large number of chicken.
You could just let loose 100 hens and 20 roosters in a 500-square meter area enclosed by a fishing net and allow them to mate freely.
The result of this system is a better egg production and healthier chicks because the hens have access to sunlight and green grass and on occassion, protein rich insects.
The only disadvantage is that wild hens could not be bred thus producing infertile eggs.
Also, since they under the elements, the breeder must have a keen eye for symptoms of diseases and must deworm more frequently.
I use both systems but I like free range breeding more because I see happier chicken running around chasing insects.
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