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In both broiler and egg production you should keep the mortality of birds as low as possible.
You should organize and manage your labour well in order to achieve the highest possible income returns.
You have now come to the end of this introductory unit. We hope you now understand the advantages, disadvantages and economic value of chicken farming.
Unit Summary
In this unit we have learnt that poultry keeping has many advantages. We saw that poultry keeping is requires a low investment, does not require a big space and has good returns on investment. We also considered the disadvantages of poultry keeping which included the risk of diseases and predators. Lastly, we looked at the economic value of chicken farming and noted that it includes income from the eggs, meat, feathers and chicken droppings, among others. We also looked at the costing of a chicken project.
In the next unit we shall discuss poultry housing.
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Unit 2
Poultry Housing
Introduction
Poultry housing is a very important part of your poultry farm as it protects the birds
from predators and rough weather conditions. A comfortable poultry house is also
important for efficient production and convenience of the poultry farmer. In the last
unit you learnt about the advantages, disadvantages and economic value of poultry
keeping. In this unit you will learn the requirements of a good poultry house, how to
identify a suitable location for a poultry house, and the different types of poultry
house systems that you can adopt. As usual, we shall start by reviewing our
objectives for this unit.
Unit Objectives
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
Describe the requirements of a good poultry house;
Identify a suitable size for a poultry house and a good site for construction
Determine the most suitable poultry production system for your project.
Section 2.1: Requirements of a Good Poultry
House
The following are the requirements for a good poultry house:
a) Protection: ensure that the poultry is protected from extreme weather
conditions, such as, high winds and droughts. Also protection from
predators, e.g. hawks, owls, mongoose, wild cats etc.
b) Good Ventilation: the house should have good ventilation, that is, able to
supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide and dampness. A damp
atmosphere favours the development of pathogen and retards the activity of
the birds. High temperatures may cause deaths or drop in egg production,
low shell quality, and reduced weight gain. A combination of high
temperatures and high humidity may kill young chicks. To protect birds from
the cold, you can use old feed bags as curtains to cover the chicken wire at
night.
c) Ease of cleaning: it should be easy to clean and facilitate parasite and
disease control. All the interior fittings should be removable or easy to clean.
d) Sunlight: this is in order to maintain the heat of the flock (VHD). The sun also
has disinfecting value and is important to the birds.
e) Economical construction: it should use cheap, durable and locally available
materials.
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f) Accessibility: the house should be convenient in relation to other buildings in the surrounding area. It should be tall enough for a grown-up person to work in there.
g) Spacious: always ensure that your poultry have enough space to run around. This will help you to avoid frequent loss of your birds due to suffocation and contamination.
h) Safe: ensure that your poultry house does not have sharp edges that can injure the birds;
i) Floor: the floor should be cemented or made of concrete for ease of cleaning;
j) Disinfection: a disinfectant dip should be placed at the door of each house to prevent entry of diseases agents into the flock house;
k) Storage: a separate room should be constructed to keep feeds and other equipment in a safe place protected from weather and contamination by humans and rodents.
Perches
same way as broilers. They grow slowly and may need brooding until 4-6 weeks old. They are then given more space than broiler chickens. If there is an out doors fenced area, they can go there during the day.
They should be given 500 g of broiler starter feed for the first 4-6 weeks. When this feed is used up it is replaced with a lower-quality pullet-rearing diet until 17 weeks of age. They are then given a layer diet which is high in calcium (3%) and phosphorous (0.5%). This is needed so that they can lay eggs with hard shells. Pullets will now be transferred to their layer house as they will shortly come into lay.
9.4 Battery cages
can hold 1-5 hens per cage (50 x 40 cm x 45 cm high for each hen)
are expensive but can be made from local material
hens may peck one another and may need to have their beaks trimmed (a specialized job)
can scratch one another if claws are long with loss of feathers from the back
must be given a high-quality layer diet
will lay more eggs and eat less feed than hens in any other housed system
may be in future welfare issues as birds have little space. This worries the public
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9.4.1 Small scale semi-commercial cage unit
This is designed for a household wanting to keep only a few hens and have eggs for their family and to sell
a single cage unit of 3 compartments holding 12 layers. See trainer’s manual (10.3.1)
cage on legs or on a stand or legs constructed cheaply from bamboo
can be moved easily out of rain and bad weather to a safe place
thatched roof or without a roof if kept under cover
bamboo feeders and home-made drinkers (see illustrations 4.1, 4.2)
hens must receive high-quality feed to lay 9 - 10 eggs /day
system sustainable if 5 eggs sold and 4 - 5 eggs consumed by the household
money from egg sales is used to buy more feed
hens sold after 12 months for eating or force moulted (see section 9.7 )
money from egg and hen sales used to buy replacement birds or layer chicks and grown to pullets but starting these 20 weeks before selling old hens
9.5 Barn hens
hens kept indoors and on the floor with adequate floor space
house must be well constructed and safe from thieves
feeders, drinkers, perches and nest boxes must be provided
floor litter is necessary and later used for fertilizer or compost on gardens
some eggs will be laid on the floor and some of these will get dirty(should be cleaned)
green feed (grass,
Perches are timber frames on which birds perch for rest. They are important for chickens to rest on during the night. It is the natural behaviour of chicken, such as layers and indigenous table birds to sleep above the ground in trees. A one meter perch can roost five adult birds. The perches should be removable to facilitate cleaning. Perches are best made of bamboo or round sticks to accommodate for the size and structure of the birds’ feet. If the sticks are too big or too small, the birds may fall. Perches can also be square and flat: 5-10 cm broad. Figure 1.1 below shows a picture of a perch.
Figure 1.1: Chicken perch
Nesting Boxes
Chicken need areas where they can lay their eggs. You should allow one nesting box for 4-5 hens. The nests should be large enough to make the birds comfortable. They should be placed in a dark and private place in order to discourage egg eating and cannibalism. The floor of the nest should be covered with soft dry grass or wood shavings to prevent egg breakage. The advantages of laying nests are:
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Eggs laid in the next boxes are cleaner
It reduces the problem of egg breakage
Egg eating by the hens is reduced
Removal of eggs by the farmer is easy and time saving.
The nests for brooding must be individual and should be placed in a dark and quiet place. They should also be easily removable. Figure 1.2 shows an example of nests.
Figure 1.2: Nests for laying and brooding
You are making very good progress! Before you continue, review what you have learnt by completing the following activity.
