Choosing a Poultry Housing System – 10 Factors to Consider
The poultry business is one business that has empowered loads of entrepreneurs simply because of how profitable it is. Besides being a profitable business, it is also easy to setup especially if you are starting on a smaller scale and from a nice location. No doubt there are some challenges when it comes to running poultry farms and one of the challenges is that of proper housing system for your poultry.
There are a lot of factors that determine the effectiveness of a poultry housings system; factors such as ventilation system, flooring system, building insulation and fencing et al.
The truth is that once a poultry farmer is able to get it right with the poultry housing system, then he can be rest assured that he wouldn’t spend much when it comes to combating predators, disease causing organism and even unfavorable climatic conditions. The essence of a good poultry housing system is to minimize the cost of running your poultry farm and to maximize profits in the business.
Read also: Maximum benefits from poultry farming
Now the question is what is the best poultry housing system? As a matter of fact, the environment you intend starting your poultry farm and also the climatic condition of the area is a key factor that must be considered when designing your poultry housing system. You can also consider the species of the poultry, the age of the poultry and also the purpose you want the poultry farm to serve.
Learn MoreThe basic poultry housing system for raising chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese are brooder houses, batteries and accumulators; they serve different purpose. So the truth remains that the best poultry housing system depends on your purpose for going into poultry farm business. Now let us quickly consider some of the factors that will determine the best poultry housing system for you;
Choosing a Poultry Housing System – 10 Factors to Consider
1. The Purpose for Starting a Poultry Farm
One of the first things that will guide you to choose the best poultry housing system for your poultry farm business is your purpose for starting a poultry farm.
If your purpose of starting your own poultry business is to build hatchery in order to sell chicks to other poultry owners, then you need to make your enquires to know how to handle this delicate part of the poultry business. The truth is that if you don’t install the proper housing system for these chicks before they are sold, you are likely going to lose a large chunk to disease that can easily be controlled.
2. The Age of the Poultry
Another factor that you should consider when designing housing system that will best suit you poultry business, is the age of the birds in your poultry. As was stated earlier, if you are dealing with younger chicks, then you should design your poultry housing system to suit them, also if you are dealing with older chickens, then you should have done your research with respect to some unique factors before making your choice on the kind of poultry housing system to design and build.
For instance; if one of the purpose of going into poultry farm business is to engage in the supply of eggs on a commercial level, then you can build poultry system that can facilitate safer and easy collections of eggs. As a matter of fact, you can build a cage that has more than 4 layers as long as you put other key factors such as light, ventilation and feeding into place before designing and building the cage to house your birds.
3. The Climatic Condition of the Environment You Intend Starting Your Poultry Farm
Another very important factor that should be consider before choosing a suitable poultry housing system is the climatic condition of the environment you intend starting your own poultry farm in. It is always advisable to go ahead and enquire from poultry owners in your area to know some of the climatic challenges that they go through before designing and building your own poultry housing system.
If you live in a region prone to cold, then you must build poultry system that is well insulated to provide the required heat for your birds. You should also consider proper ventilation system as well or else you will run into trouble trying to manage sickly birds. As a matter of fact, poor ventilation system is one major factor that contributes to the spread of various diseases in poultries.
4. The Location You Intend Starting Your Poultry Farm
The location you intend starting your poultry farm is yet another important factor that you must consider before choosing a poultry housing design. For example, if the location you choose to start your poultry farm can easily be accessed by predators, then you should consider fencing your poultry.
There are various predators that can come after the birds in your poultry, it could be cats, it could be snakes, it could be dogs or even some wild animals that is why you must ensure that build a good fence that will help protect you birds.
5. The Type / Breed of Birds You Intend Breeding At Your Farm
The type / breed of birds you intend raising in your poultry farm is another factor that may influence your choice of poultry housing system. For instance; if you intend raising turkeys in your poultry, then you should make plans for a poultry farm that is spacious to accommodate the numbers of turkeys you intend accommodating in your poultry per – time.
You are not expected to use the same cage measurement for both chickens and turkeys. Also if you intend raising guinea fowls, quails or other birds that fly, then you should consider a poultry design that can prevent them from flying beyond the restricted area.
Whichever choice you make regarding the best poultry housing system that can effectively fit into your plans of starting your poultry farm, just ensure that it is one that can give you easy access to feed your birds, treat them when they are sick and monitor their growth.
Read also: Broiler farm management system
10 Tips and Requirements for a Good Poultry Housing System
If you have ever been to a good poultry farm, then you sure would realize that having a good poultry housing system is one way to ensure that things run smoothly in the farm as well as one factor that determines how healthy the animals might grow.
Therefore, if you have been in the business of poultry farming or have the penchant for poultry farming, it would really be expedient that you know the tips that are really needed for a good poultry housing system. When it comes to poultry farming, you have got to really take into account the availability of air in the environment. Highlighted below are tips that would help with having a good poultry housing system and the steps that you would need to take to pull this off. If you are ready for the tips, then here goes;
a. Conduct a Research
This is one of the first most needful things that you have got to do. There is a whole lot of information that are available to you on the internet, especially those sites that are listed on the search engine. The role which a thorough and exhaustive research plays just cannot be emphasized. Some of the things that you would get to know about when you conduct research is that you will be able to get all the available options for a good poultry housing system and then you can make your choice.
b. A Good Poultry Housing System Should Have Easy Access
The hallmark of a good poultry housing system is that it should be designed in such a way that workers can easily move around the poultry without restrictions of obstruction. This is important especially when the birds are to be fed, given water and for effective cleaning of the poultry farm.
c. The Flooring / Bedding Must Be Comfortable for the Birds
The flooring / bedding of a good poultry housing system should be comfortable for the birds and should be safe for eggs as well. The truth is that if you do not get the bedding of your poultry right, eggs can easily get cracked and that won’t be good for your business.
d. A Good Poultry Housing System Must Be Convenient To Clean
A good poultry housing system must be convenient to clean. It should be built in a way that every part of the poultry farm can be easily accessed by your cleaners. The truth is that hygiene is an important factor in the poultry business, especially if you want to minimize the death of your birds and spread of flu.
e. The Design of a Good Poultry Housing System Should Be Such That Eggs Don’t Get Cracked and are Easy Collected
Eggs are easily collected in a good poultry housing system. So ensure that the design of your own poultry farm is built in such a way that the eggs can easily be collected in good condition. If you have ever worked or visited a poultry farm, you will realize that an appreciable percent of the eggs normally get cracked. This is as a result of poor design. The safety of the eggs should be considered when building a poultry housing system.
f. A Good Poultry Housing System Must Have Good Lighting and Heating System
Another import tip that you must consider when building your poultry farm is the lighting and heating system. Birds like it when the environment is warm, it keep them healthy. So ensure that you install a proper lighting and heating system that can provide the adequate warmth needed by your birds.
g. Proper Ventilation is a Key Factor for a Good Poultry Housing System
Another key factor that must be considered when building your poultry farm is the ventilation. The success of your poultry farm business to a large extent is dependent on the ventilation of the poultry farm. The truth is that if you don’t have proper ventilation in your poultry farm, you are likely going to welcome easy spread of bird flu. So ensure that you design your poultry farm to allow for proper ventilation.
Read also: Key factors for Poultry House Ventilation
h. A Good Poultry Housing System Must Have Effective Waste Disposal Unit
In other to reduce or eliminate the outbreak of flu in your poultry, you must have an effective waste disposal unit. The truth is that in poultry farm, you cannot rule out the death of some birds, but it is very important not to allow dead birds to liter all around your poultry farm.
Beside the foul smell it will generate, it will also result to flu for both humans and your birds. Of course you know that waste from birds and bad eggs also generate offensive odor; so an effective waste disposal unit must be put in place.
i. A Good Poultry Housing System Must Have Different Steps (Confinements) for Different Ages and Species of Birds
It will be wrong to house birds of different ages and species in the same confinement. Some older birds can kill your chicks by stepping or perking them. So if you are considering raising different species of birds in your poultry farm, it is important that you build different confinements for them.
j. A Good Poultry System Must Have a Standard Hatchery Unit
A good poultry system must have a standard hatchery unit. It is economical to hatch your own eggs in your poultry as against going out to buy day old chicks et al. The truth is that, you will eliminate death of chicks in the process of transporting them when you have your own egg incubator within your poultry farm. You can decide to buy your own egg incubator or design it to meet your own specification.
For more information and updates join our WhatsApp group HERE
Follow us on Twitter Here
-Advertisement-
We do everything possible to supply quality information for farmers day in, day out and we are committed to keep doing this.
Your kind donation will help our continuous research efforts.
