Pastures planting can ease the conflict between free-range chicken production and the stocking environment

Abstract

The introduction of forage grass in poultry industry had double benefit on animals and the environment. In this study, three kinds of pastures were planted artificially to evaluate their roles through the determination of grass, chicken and soil-related indexes. The results showed that raising chickens under the forest could destroy vegetation and affect the chemical properties of soil negatively. Changes of soil caused by chickens can be alleviated through planting grass. Forage provided a certain food source for chickens without affecting the growth, slaughter properties, meat quality, immune indexes and other performances. Suitable pasture should have good regeneration ability, trampling resistance, good palatability, and do not cause harm to the health of chickens.