BASIC MANUAL FOR BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE

COLORED BROILERS PRODUCTION

By: Eldani S. Fernando, DVM
 Table of Contents What is Bounty Fresh Free Range Colored Broilers?

Bounty Fresh free range colored broilers is a meat type bird that has
Page number a comparable taste to our Philippine native chicken. These hardy
birds can be readily ranged in open areas requiring minimal
supervision as these can forage and source food from naturally
Introduction. 2 available food sources to supplement normal feed ration. These
birds are well suited to our climatic conditions with better growth
Standard equipments and materials. 4 rate, feed conversion, higher meat yield, and faster time to attain
slaughter weight compared to our native chicken without
Chick brooding 7 compromising disease resistance.

Ranging time... 10 Why raise Bounty Fresh free range colored broilers?

Feeding 14 Over the years, the demand for high quality free-range chicken meat
that is free from antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones, animal
Growth performance... 17 protein, pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals have consistently
grown due to the increasing awareness of consumers of its health
Common diseases and problems. 18 benefits. Traditionally, for this purpose, the Philippine native
chicken is used but with some drawbacks and disadvantages as the
Philippine native chicken tend to grow slowly, is not a good feed
converter and day-old to slaughter weight takes at least 18 weeks.
To address these problems brought about by the limits of the genetic
capability of our native chickens, Bounty Fresh has introduced the
colored broilers that can be ranged and raised like the Philippine
native chicken. These colored broilers are suitable for backyard as
well as commercial type of farming. Bounty Fresh free range
colored broiler is a meat-type bird capable of averaging 1.6 kilos
live weight at 56 days if raised on a fast grow system. It can have a
livability of up to 97% if grown correctly. This is a considerable e. Are hatched in our own state of the art hatcheries.
improvement from the 1.2 kilos at 126 days for the native chicken. Not in any toll hatcheries ensuring clean, uniform,
and healthy chicks
Why choose Bounty Fresh free range colored broilers?

1. Chicks we are selling are coming from:

a. Genetically superior parent stocks coming from a
reputable breeding company from Europe (Hubbard)
b. Parent stocks thoroughly vaccinated against NCD,
Fowl Cholera, Infectious Coryza, IBD, IB, Fowl Pox,
chicken infectious anemia, chronic respiratory
disease and other economically important diseases.
i. Chicks would benefit from the maternally
derived antibodies that they will receive from
the parent stocks that will protect them from
these diseases during their first few weeks of
life
c. Parent stocks housed in environmentally-controlled
houses ensuring controlled feeding, lighting, better
production and barrier to diseases leading to healthier
parent stocks
d. Parent stocks fed with breed-specific feed specs. We
formulate our own feeds based on the specific needs
and requirements of our parent stocks as required by Fig 1. Bounty Fresh Free Range Colored Broiler Parent Stocks in
Hubbard our environmentally controlled housing
i. We ensure the health of our parent stocks to
give you the best quality chick in the market 2. Chicks we are selling comes with technical services to
for a necessary good start for you ensure that our customers will grow their free range chickens
the right way

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OUR CHICKS ARE OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY OUT IN THE For areas without electricity
MARKET!
Used 3 kilo capacity powdered milk can = 3 pieces
Standard equipments for 100 Bounty Fresh free range colored Charcoal = 1 sack
broilers under Philippine condition or as needed
Other standard equipments:
Feeding equipments
Light source: two 18 watts CFL lighting or petromax (for
For brooding stage (day old to 21 days) areas without electricity)
Chick feeder troughs (1 meter length) = 2-3 pcs Emergency light source
Chick feeder trays (20 inches diameter) = 2-3 pcs 1x50 gallon drum as water reservoir
1x5 gallon plastic pail
For growing stage (22 days up to harvest, minimum 60 days) 1 unit weighing scale of 10 kilo capacity
Tube feeders (5 kilos capacity) = 8 pieces Fishnet for perimeter fencing of range area = 100 meters
Feeder troughs (
Housing dimension and living space requirements for 100 heads
Watering equipments Bounty Fresh free range colored broilers
For brooding stage (day old to 21 days)
BROODING AREA (day old to 21 days)
Water galloners (medium) = 2-3 pcs
o 8 square meters per 100 heads ( or a double decked
cage of dimensions 2x1x0.5 meters per deck can
For growing stage (22 days up to harvest, minimum 60 days)
house 50 heads for each deck)
Water basin with basin guards (1 pair) = 8 pairs

Heating/brooding equipments for brooding stage

Incandescent bulbs (50 watts) = 2 pieces

1 watt per chick is usually sufficient

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Fig 2. Improvised brooding area by utilizing pig pens covered with
fish net to protect from predators with incandescent bulb as heat
source
CHICK BROODING
Fig 3. A triple deck design with 2x1x0.5 meters with side
extension for heaters. Capacity of 150 heads
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MOBILE RANGING HOUSE (22 days up to 80 days)
o 7x2x2 meters or 14 square meters per 100 birds
o Option of putting up ranging house per ranging area
or ranging house can be transferred to another
ranging location as flock is transferred from one
ranging area to another to save cost of building new
ranging house
o Ranging house should offer protection from bad
weather conditions
RANGING AREA (space requirement up to harvest age of
80 days)
o At least 1 square meter of ranging area per bird
excluding ranging house
o Ranging area is enclosed in fishnet 5 feet in height to
prevent birds from roaming too far away and to
protect birds from predators
o Presence of forage materials is an added advantage to
encourage natural foraging behavior of chickens
Brooding Management Principle
A chick does not have the ability to maintain its own
body temperature, therefore, it is necessary to provide
external source of heat to help the chick maintain its
core body temperature constant
The first few weeks of the chicks life is critical, this
few weeks will determine the success of your
 performance until harvest. It is necessary to give your Recommended brooding temperature during the first week
chicks a good head start.
Day Brooding Area Temperature (C)
Brooding Management 1 34
Provide clean and dry litter (dried grass, rice hulls, 2 34
wood shavings) free from moulds, bacteria, viruses 3 34
that can be a possible source of infection 4 32
o Newspaper placed on top of litter for the first 5 32
few days to enable floor feeding 6 30
Provide right number of waterers (please see 7 30
recommended poultry equipment ratio) and place in
strategic locations where chicks can easily have
access to the waterers
Make sure that brooding area/cage is protected from
cold drafts but with openings to keep brooder house
temperature from getting too hot
Provide heating source (please see recommended
poultry equipment ratio)
Pre-heat the brooding area at least 2 hours before
chick arrival to avoid cold stress to the birds
Upon chick arrival, do not give feeds during the first
30 minutes to encourage birds to drink first. Floor
feed birds first to encourage them to eat.
Provide chicks with clean, new feeds 30 minutes after
placement
Provide feeds in small amounts but in frequent
interval to ensure feeds are fresh encouraging chicks
to feed

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Fig. 4. Charcoal heaters as heat source for brooding

Fig 6. Incandescent bulb used as heat source. Note that laminated

sacks installed to prevent cold drafts from entering and conserve
heat inside brooding area

Ranging Time

Stage where birds are set loose to forage for grass, insects,
legumes, as supplementary diet aside from feeds
These stage will help birds develop lean meat due frequent
foraging and acquire the taste of native chicken
Fig 5. rice hulls burned in drums provide artificial heat source

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Ranging Proper

Provide at least one square meter of range area per chicken

Provision fishnet perimeter fence to exclude predators and to
confine chickens
o Fishnet is the material of choice for fencing so as not
to block the flow of air
Provide shaded areas as rest areas during hot times of the day
o Improvement of 10-15% in performance was noted if
birds are provided with shade. A heat stressed bird
will consume less feed than it normally does
Before letting loose chickens in the ranging area,
o Confine birds inside the ranging house for at least 3-5
days to allow them to adjust to their new environment
Strategically place waterers inside the range area that can be
easily accessed by the birds
Make sure water provided is clean and regularly replaced.
Leftover water from the previous day should be replaced the Fig 7. Permanent ranging house. Note ranging house was placed on
next morning highest point to prevent flooding inside
Ranging house should be big enough to accommodate all
chicken when it is necessary to confine them at night time or
during bad weather (give at least 1.5 square feet per bird)
Rehabilitation of pasture/range area must be practiced to
prevent pasture fatigue which can lead to hyper acidic soil
that can favor the growth of pathogenic microorganisms in
high numbers

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 FEEDING

Three types of feeding management

1. Fast grow system with intensive use of high density

feeds
CLASSIFICATION: CERTIFIED SEMI-INDUSTRIAL
FREE-RANGE
Expected average live weight of 1.65 kilos in 56 days
Brooding time (day old to 21 days)

Feed type: chick booster

Feeding: ad libitum ( full feeding)
frequent but in small amounts
Watering: change water every 3 hours

Ranging time (22 days until harvest time)

Feed type:
22-35 days: chick starter
35-56 days: grower finisher feeds
Feeding: Full feeding 3x a day
Watering: provide water as needed
Fig 8. chickens confined for three days inside ranging house to
familiarize them to their new environment 2. Medium grow system with use of mixture of high density
and low density feeds
CLASSIFICATION: STANDARD GROW FREE
RANGE
Expected average live weight of 1.50 kilos in 56 days

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 Brooding time (day old to 21 days) Feed type:
22-32 days: 50% grower finisher feeds
Feed type: chick booster 50% corn grits
Feeding: frequent but in small amounts 33-55 days: 35% grower finisher feeds
Watering: change water every 3 hours 65% corn grits
56-70 days 80% fresh corn
Ranging time (22 days until harvest time) 20% binlid/palay
Supplemented with vegetables,
Feed type: fruits, herbs as additional food
22-32 days: grower finisher feeds source
33-43 days: 50% grower finisher feeds Feeding: Full feeding 3x a day
50% corn grits Watering: provide water as needed
44-56 days 35% grower finisher feeds
65% corn grits
Feeding: Full feeding 3x a day
Watering: provide water as needed

3. Slow grow system with use of 30% high density and

70% low density feeds and legumes
CLASSIFICATION: SLOW GROW FREE RANGE
Expected average live weight of 1.50 kilos in 70 days
Brooding time (day old to 15 days only)

Feed type: chick booster

Feeding: frequent but in small amounts
Watering: change water every 3 hours

Ranging time (16 days until 70 days)

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 *GROWTH PERFORMANCE COMMON DISEASES/PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN FREE
Performance obtained with crumble feed at 3200 kcal RANGE CHICKEN PRODUCTION
AGE WEIGHT **FEEDS
FCR
(days) (grams) (g/bird) Infectious Coryza
14 251 28 1.22-1.26 New Castle Disease
21 471 37 1.36-1.40 Fowl Pox
28 733 47 1.50-1.54
Worm Infestation
35 1023 62 1.64-1.68
External parasite infestation (mites and lice)
42 1316 70 1.78-1.83
Diarrhea
49 1601 83 1.91-1.97
56 1877 99 2.06-2.12
Steps in preventing these problems from occurring in your
63 2136 110 2.21-2.27
operations
70 2405 120 2.37-2.43
Vaccinate your birds against NCD and other disease that are
*The performance data contained in this graph was obtained from
prevalent in your area. Vaccination is an accepted practice in
the results of Hubbards research flocks and flocks of their
free range farming especially if you are going into
customers. In no way does the data contained in this graph constitute
commercial scale of production. It is necessary to consult a
a warranty or guarantee of the same performance under different
veterinarian regarding the right vaccination program
conditions of nutrition, density, or physical or biological
o Vaccination will protect your birds from potentially
environment.
dangerous diseases if an outbreak may occur
**under Philippine field conditions
o Vaccination will protect your birds from disease
outbreaks from unvaccinated flocks
Practice good biosecurity in your farm
o Although an overused clich, An ounce of prevention
is better than a pound of cure still holds true!
o It is of extreme importance to keep your farm and
farm premises as clean as possible to eliminate
possible source of infection
o Limit the number of people coming in and out of
your farm especially people coming from other farms

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 o If possible, practice all in, all out system of rearing
o Cull/remove weak or sick birds that would not
recover and practice proper disposal of mortalities to
eliminate risk of possible source of infection
Adapt a deworming program for your operations as free
range chickens are more predisposed to internal parasites due
to prolonged contact with the ground.
Basic Farm Layout
Fig 10. basic farm layout
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REMINDERS!!!
BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE COLORED BROILERS ARE
NOT INTENDED FOR BREEDING!
PROGENY FROM BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE BROILERS
WOULD BE LOWER IN PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO
THEIR PARENTS.
BREEDING BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE BROILERS WITH
EACH OTHER WOULD BE INBREEDING AS THESE
CHICKENS ARE CLOSELY RELATED AND WOULD RESULT
IN DECREASED PERFORMANCE OF OFFSPRING AS WELL
AS INCREASED SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASES
References:
Basic Manual for HAPPY FARMERS CHOICE FREE RANGE
CHICKEN MEAT production. Dr. Erwin Cruz