I, Farm Boy! Breeding Backyard Chicken In Paddocks-Type Set Up

My continuing search for the best breeding set up led me to design a paddocks-type set up which gives chicken access to greens while keeping their eggs safe from predators.

This is the third set up that I designed for my breeders.

The first was a free-range breeding where about 500 hens with 100 roosters were set in an open field.

It was good until the predators – dogs and crows started attacking the chicken and the eggs.

Then, I came up with an enclosed pen type where 20 hens with 3 roosters were bred.

The chicken and eggs were safe but the egglaying rate went down.

Feather pecking also became a problem.

The Paddocks-Type Set Up is a hybrid of the first two.

The chicken are kept in an enclosed pen where they are fed and where they lay eggs.

But at daytime, they have access to a yard divided into two paddocks which are opened one area at a time.

There are two separate doors leading to the each of the divided yard.

At night, they are kept in the pen enclosed by cyclone wires and net to protect them from predators.

A month after I set up the Paddocks-Type breeding set up, 100 hens and 20 young roosters cleaned up the grass in the first paddock.

So, I closed it and opened the door leading to the other paddock.

Today, I asked the boys to plant 300 Mulberry cuttings in the first paddock so that a month from now when I reopen it, the chicken will not only have green grass but also protein-rich mulberry leaves.

In another month, I would already be able to assess the benefits and maybe discover more ways to improve.

#FarmIsTheBestClassroom!

#LearningNeverEnds!