Family Poultry Training Course/Trainees' Manual - Housing & Equipment
From Poultry Hub
|
Unit II
Poultry Housing
There are many reasons why poultry should have a well-constructed house:
- to protect them from floods, rain and the sun
- to protect them from predators - dogs, cats, snakes, birds of prey, rats and thieves
- to prevent mice, rats and other birds from eating their feed and transmitting disease
- to give hens a safe place to lay their eggs
You must protect your chickens from predators.
What are the basic requirements for a poultry house? It must:
- be rain proof
- protect the birds from direct sunlight and keep them cool
- have good drainage around the house
- be easy to clean
- have a strong door with a secure lock Chickens must be protected from the weather Housing will likely be your biggest investment and to cut costs, local material can be used. Positioning of the house is important to conform with some of the basic requirements (mentioned above). High ground will stop flooding in rain storms.
Floor
The floor must be:
- flat and smooth and easy to clean
- have a good depth of litter cover (sawdust, shavings, dried grass, leaves, chopped straw, rice hulls, crushed coffee hulls, peanut hulls)
Litter
Litter:
- should be raked weekly
- should be changed every two batches of meat birds or every batch of layers
- makes excellent fertiliser for your garden
- makes an excellent compost when mixed with leaves, grass, vegetable waste, etc.
Fresh poultry manure must be stored for a few months, otherwise it might burn plants. Adequate floor space for birds is most important particularly in regions where it is always hot. If they are too crowded broilers will not grow well.Remove manure from empty house and replace with clean litter
Exercise
- Do you have a suitable place to build a chicken house? If so describe the site.
- Are there suitable materials to construct the house from? What are they? Will you have to purchase some of these materials? What are they and their approximate cost?
Equipment
Drinkers
Give your birds, clean, fresh water. You can make your own drinkers or buy them. They must be adjusted to the correct height so that birds can drink easily.
Feeders
Poultry must have continual access to feed in properly-adjusted feeders, otherwise they will not grow or lay well. These can also be made from local material, or purchased. Feeders must always have a lid to stop birds from entering the feeder. An inexpensive spring balance for weighing birds, feed, eggs and other things, you will find to be very useful.
Exercise
- Make a list of the important features of a poultry house.
- Make a list of the equipment that must be available in the house.
Unit II - Trainees will now visit the demonstration site to discuss the poultry house and how much a similarly equipped house will cost and what improvements/changes could be made. Use of old litter to make compost or to spread on the garden will also be discussed.
End of Unit II
Next section: Unit III - Brooding
