4 Ways to Produce Top-Quality Kampung Chicken Day-Old Chicks

Kampung chickens (Indonesia's free-range native chickens) are no longer raised only in rural villages; city dwellers keep them too. Many people raise them because the prospects are good. Their strong resilience is a big plus for poultry farmers, since the birds rarely get sick and treatment costs stay low. On top of that, kampung chickens sell for more than broilers. Their market is also broad, so kampung chicken farmers have little trouble selling what they produce.

To run a successful kampung chicken farm, you have to pay close attention to the day-old chicks (DOC). DOC are the gold of a chicken farm: the more chicks that survive, the more gold you harvest.

Also read 4 Reasons Broiler Day-Old Chicks Fail During Rearing

Producing Kampung Chicken DOC

DOC survive when they are good quality. Farmers who want to succeed at raising kampung chickens need to start with quality DOC. Here are a few methods you can try to produce quality kampung chicken DOC:

Collect Eggs as Early as Possible

The way to get quality hatching eggs is to collect freshly laid eggs as early as possible. The goal is to keep the eggs in good condition and undamaged. If a chicken steps on an egg, its quality can suffer, so it may fail to hatch or produce a chick with defects.

Number the Eggs

The next way to produce quality kampung chicken DOC is to number the eggs. Numbering lets you know which eggs should already have hatched and which are hatching late.

Selection

The next step is selection. Not every egg in storage will become a quality kampung chicken DOC. That is why it is important to screen the eggs in the following ways:

1. Select eggs by weight, because egg weight affects the weight of the chick. If an egg's weight is abnormal, the chick's weight will be abnormal too. Farmers should weigh every egg being screened. The heavier the egg, the heavier the chick it will produce.
2. Select eggs by shape as well. Choose oval eggs, not round ones.
3. The shell must also be flawless, with no cracks or defects. Shells that are too thin are also unsuitable for hatching eggs.

Also read 6 Tips for Producing Quality Kampung Chicken Day-Old Chicks

Track Hatching Time

Good, quality DOC hatch on time. Chicks that hatch late are lower in quality. Farmers should therefore note when each egg is due to hatch, so chicks that do not hatch on schedule can be set apart from those that hatched on time.

Benefits of Top-Quality Kampung Chicken DOC

Raising chickens from top-quality DOC brings a number of benefits:

1. The chicks avoid stress and adapt easily to a new environment.
2. They are more likely to survive than lower-quality chicks.
3. The chicks have stable immune systems, so they are protected from the many diseases that can strike DOC at any time.
4. They grow and develop normally, unlike lower-quality chicks. They gain weight quickly, so they reach a normal weight by harvest time, which benefits the farmer.

Those are the ways to produce quality kampung chicken DOC and the benefits they bring. We hope you find this information useful.

Also read 6 Tips for Building an Ideal Coop for Day-Old Chicks