KESTA VILLAGE, Kurdistan Region - A resident in Duhok province's Kesta village has been raising chickens in an open area for two years, feeding them on natural grass and vegetation.
Omed Saeed has bought 5,000 chicks from Iran’s western Kurdish areas (Rojhelat). His chickens are free-range and raised in an open area.
He feeds them a ton of wheat in two days and they drink water from a natural spring.
Besides wheat, they also feed on natural grass and vegetation.
People who have tasted his chickens say they taste different and better than chickens raised in artificial farms.
"Thank God, they are now four months old and doing very well without problems, issues, or symptoms. The weather conditions have been good. Thank God, like before, their health is good. The reason is that we only give them wheat - leftover wheat - which we give them like feed pellets after soaking it in water for two to three days," Saeed , the poultryman, told Rudaw.
Eighty-five percent of his poultry are roosters while the rest are hens.
Since his poultry are in an open area, they are more vulnerable to wild animals. Therefore, he maintains effective surveillance to protect them day and night.
"Foxes, wolves, and all those animals come, but we stay vigilant, with both shotguns and methods to scare them away, until they (the chickens) grow up in a healthy and 100 percent a natural environment," he said.
