Free range chicken farming in Philippines is well-adapted for small scale poultry farmers in Philippines because they do not require very intensive management. Filipino farmers interested in free range poultry farming can use a semi-intensive farming technique that is low cost and still allows them to rear top quality chicken profitably.
Also, thanks to the growing trend towards healthy lifestyles, more Filipino farmers now opt for free range chickens because they are relatively healthy and antibiotic-free. They spend more time in the open air and are more exposed to sunshine. They develop more muscle and produce very healthy and tender meat that does not shrink when it is cooked. Besides, the farmer does spend too much time in intensive management. They can formulate their own feeds or buy them formulated feeds which can be supplemented with some locally available foods or even food leftovers.
The housing for free range chickens must be built in a certain way unlike the layer and broiler chicken houses which are generally squeezed in cages. For free range farming, you have to embrace more open spaces. Have at least 1 square feet per bird. For example, if you are going to rear 500 chickens in free range model, you have to build a house in a deep litter system which is 500 square feet so that the chickens do not grapple with things such as overcrowding.
In the Philippines, there are various kinds of chicken breeds that you can keep in the free range model. These include the following:-
- The Israeli Kabir Chicken
- Chinese chicken breeds like the Luong Phuong and the Tam Hoang
- Local Filipino chickens
- Crossbreeds of Philippines local chicken breeds and the Rhode island breeds
The housing for free range chickens in Philippines can be built cheaply using locally available materials such as bamboo and iron sheets. It should be in an East-West orientation and must be well aerated. Our Philippines free range chicken rearing manual contains some housing designs that free range poultry farmers in the Philippines can embrace.
It is also important to know the right kind of food that you should give your free range chickens and in what amounts, how to prepare the barn, when to treat them, when to give them antibiotics, when to take them out to the pasture and for how long and other useful details that will help you run a successful free range farm in the Philippines. Check out our Marketplace for some of the Philippines Free Range Farming Manuals available for sale.