Poultry housing is important part of Poultry business. comfortable housing is basic need of birds. My Poultry Shed layout, Brooding, grower, layer House.
Contents
Poultry Housing – why it is required
Like human poultry birds also required the house for the protection against inclement weather like the excessive summer, winter and rainy season. We are rearing them for our profits and benefits than it is our responsibility to provide them comfortable Housing. the Poultry Housing/shelter is essential to protect against the Predator attack.
A good or comfortable housing area directly affect the optimum growth and production in commercial poultry farming either you are doing layer poultry farming or Broiler poultry farming.
Poultry farming is one of the profitable business it gives maximum profit when we do extra care and management in the house for the better livability of the birds.
A better Housing Maximize the performance of the flock and Ensuring better health and welfare. High Production Poultry Breeds needs comfortable housing.
Types of Poultry Housing Management System
Extensive Management System or free-range: In which the birds live outside the whole day and find their own feed like Plants, leaves, Ant, insects, and other living organisms. Birds allowed house at night by their owner.
Semi-intensive management System: In this system, the bird live outside for whole day for foraging and a handful grain provide by the owner at night. This method is mostly used on a small scale for 300- 400 birds only.
Intensive Management System: in this method, all the comfort is provided to the birds in the house. To get the maximum production the Good quality feed is always remaining available in front of the birds. This is the most common method used worldwide on a commercially large scale to fulfillment the consumption of chicken meat and Eggs.
Keep these things in mind before designing Poultry House
Selection of site
- The Poultry Housing or shelter should be constructed two to three kilometer far from the residential area.
- The Poultry house should be placed at a well-drained area or elevated at some height. So that water should not come inside the shelter.
- There should be 24×7 availability of Water and Electricity.
- Ventilation is one of the most important parts of poultry housing. So, the house should be well ventilated for the cross flow of fresh air in the house and Provide oxygen to birds for the better growth and health aspects
- Easy availability of labors at minimum wages.
- There should be a good road for the Transportation of Birds up to the market.
Housing Design
- Orientation: the Orientation of long axis of shelter should be according to the tropical condition of your region. It is the most important factor of design. For better understand see the image below.
- Distance: If you are planning for more than one shed than the distance between Two sheds should be 30 – 50 ft.
- Length: The Length of the house can be as much as possible depends on how many birds plan do you have.
- Height: The shelter Height should be 10 to 12 feet at the center and Sidewalls should be 8 to 10 feet for a double-sloped gable roof. the 3 feet Overhang should be given on both sides.
- Width: The width of the house should not be more than 30 feet. If you want width more than 30 feet than you have to arrange Fans, Foggers, Evaporative cooling system in the hose which costs more.
Types of Houses According to Age
The brooder house, grower house or layer house should be separated for the better growth of the bird
Brooder House (0-8 weeks)
The House used in the Broiler Poultry Farming is also known as Brooder House. Generally, Brooder house is necessary for both the Broiler poultry farming and layer poultry farming. In brooder house, the chick lives from the age 0 to 8 weeks in which special care and arrangement are required for better growth of the chicks.
- The space requirement for the chicks in brooder house is 0.6q ft per bird. 600 sq ft is enough for 1000 chicks.
- The side wall of the brooder house should not be more than 18 inch or 1.5 ft.
- The floor area of the house should be cemented and filled one or two inches thick with rice straw or wood straw.
- From day one, the temperature in the brooding house should be 95º F or 35º C and should be reduced by 5º F each week and stop reducing when it reached at 70º F or 22ºC.
- The availability of light in the brooding house should be 24×7. Keep the battery or inverter or another source of electricity in case of electricity failure.
- Provide the chicks clean and disinfected water and adjust the height of waterer according to the height of chicks.
- To save the feed from wastage allow de-beaking in the farm in every 3 weeks of age.
- Equipment required in the brooding house are feeders, waterers, electric lamp, thermometer.
Grower House (9-20 weeks)
Grower house is mainly for the hens which are raised mainly for Egg-Purpose. in grower house generally 9 to 20 weeks of age are reared to grow for the egg.
- Before incoming of birds in the grower house, the house should be disinfected by the lime powder.
- Try to take the birds of the same weight in the grower house.
- For the good growth, the grower house should be clean, hygiene and disinfected.
- Provide the balanced feed packed with All the Nutrition, Protein, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. so that the hen can lay eggs as much as possible at their laying period.
- The space requirement for the birds in Deep litter system 1 sq ft per bird requires and in Battery cage system 0.6 sq ft per bird is required.
- Arrange feeders and waterer should be according to the number of birds present on the farm so that no one birds remain hungry and thirsty.
Layer House (21-72 weeks)
After the grower house hens are introduced in the layer house for the Eggs. Generally, 21 to 72 weeks of age hens should manage under the layer house. In layer, house hens can be rear form two types –
Deep litter system or floor system
Deep litter also used for Broiler poultry farming. It is the mostly used method by small flock owner as well as by large scale flock owner who raised 50000 birds in a single house for meat purpose.
- In the layer house, the space requirement in the deep litter system per bird is 2 sq ft per bird is enough.
- The bed should be 2 to 3 inch thick with rice straw or wood shavings.
- Provide nest boxes for the laying eggs by a hen. The nest boxes should be clean and filled with padded bed by rice straw. Change the nesting material every week for better production of an egg.
- Collect the eggs 4 times in a day.
- Hens in the deep litter system are susceptible to external parasites like lice, mites, and ticks. So external deworming is essential for increasing the production and performance of the hens.
- 1 nest/box is enough for 5 to 6 birds. And it should be placed in the darker side of the farm.
- Provide enough feeder and waterer in the house according to the strength of your flock.
- The feed should be full with energy and all minerals and vitamins and nutrition for the good egg production.
Cage System
The cage system is one of the common methods for commercial layer farming on a large scale. The main advantage of a cage system is that you can maintain the record easily and culling the poor layers.
The 80% of layer farmer is using this method worldwide on a large scale as well as small scale. This method takes less space as compared to the deep litter system
- The cage should be placed 2.5 ft above from the ground.
- In the layer house, the space requirement for the battery cage system is 0.7 sq ft per bird is sufficient.
- The waterers and feeders are attached with the cages.
- More Eggs can be collected by a single person by the help of trolleys.
- Dropping is collected in the trays which are attached in the cages and it can be sold as a fertilizer.
Types of cages
- single or individual bird cages
- multiple bird cages (up to 10 birds)
- colony cages (more than 10 birds)
- Battery cages
- stair-step cages/ California
Equipment used in Poultry House
Heaters
Heat is quite much needed in the brooder house for chicks as well as in cold climate region for maintaining the temperature in the Poultry House.
the types of heaters used in the house to supply heat
- gas heater
- coal furnace
- forced air furnace
- radiant tube heater
- Radiant brooder
- Pancake brooder
Fogger
The fogger is used to provide cooling in the poultry house. Fogger discharges the water particles and lowers the temperature inside the house during excessive summer.
Feeders
the feeder should place according to the space and strength of the flock. In broiler poultry farming where we raised birds for 0 to 8 months, therefore, the feeder should be full 24×7 to achieve maximum weight in limited time. 10 feeders are enough for 1000 birds. the maximum distance between birds and feeder should not be more than 2-meter. Types of feeder
- Hanging feeder
- Tube feeder
- Automatic Feeder ( used only for commercially large scale )
Waterer and Drinker
Water and drinker should be place according to the height of the birds in Brooder, Gower and layer House. 10 drinker is enough for 1000 birds. the maximum distance between drinker and birds should not be more than 2-meter Types of Drinkers:
- Nipple Drinker ( 1 nipple for 8- 10 birds)+
- Fountain Drinker
- Automatic Drinker
Management in the Poultry House
- The cleanliness in the house decreases the mortality of birds and increase the growth rate.
- In deep litter system floor should burn by flame gun to kill the bacteria in every new batch.
- The boundary should be color by white cement in every batch.
- Spread the lime powder or dewormers for cleanliness and hygiene in the house.
- Allow Bio-security at farm gate and don’t allow the visitor too much in the house.
- In the cage system, wash the trays every day and keep the proper management of the dropping trays every day.
