Thursday, March 28, 2024
Poultry

Reasons and Guidelines for Providing Suitable Housing for Poultry

The following are the major reasons for providing suitable housing for poultry;

To protect the birds from bad weather.

To protect the birds from thieves and predators.

To be able to control the birds.

To be able to keep the birds in age group.

General Principles of Poultry Housing in the Tropics

In a tropical environment, the design and construction of poultry houses must take into consideration the climatic and weather conditions of the environment. The guiding principle is to keep poultry productive throughout their producing life. This involves the provision of optimum conditions of temperature, humidity, ventilation, and light.

Another important principle relates to cost and durability. Poultry house should be structurally strong, durable, and cheap.

Read Also: Battery Cage Poultry Production System

General Guidelines

The following guidelines will help a poultry farmer in providing simple and adequate housing for poultry under tropical conditions.

External wall should be low(about 0.6m-1m) with a chicken wire mesh(1-2cm) extending from the wall to a height of 2m leaving some margin under the roof for an impeded or free air flow.

The roof should be of corrugated material or thatched.

There should be enough roof overhangs to prevent rain from entering the pens.

Internal partitions when necessary should be made of wire mesh to aid unrestricted air circulation.

The poultry house should be clear of other buildings or structures which may obstruct the free flow of air.

The poultry house should not be too wide (more than 9m) as this tend to cut down fresh air movement in and out of the pen.

The house should be constructed in an east west direction, to protect the birds from the direct rays of the sun.

Water reservoir should be located under shades to prevent excessive heat up of water during hot days.

Stocking density for tropical areas should be 10-20% lighter than the temperate environment.

Poultry houses should be located on a well-drained ground to prevent the flood.

The poultry house should be accessible by road to facilitate the evacuation of produce or delivery of feed and other supplies.

In conclusion, poultry has proved to be the particularly versatile domestic bird that is adapted to almost all environments and system of production.

Poultry production makes it an open choice for the farmer to decide which system of production he is interested in based on his capital, skills, and needs.

In a tropical environment the design and construction of poultry houses must take into consideration the climatic and weather conditions of the environment.

The guiding principle is to keep poultry productive throughout their producing life. This involves the provision of optimum conditions of temperature, humidity, ventilation, and light.

Another important principle relates to cost and durability. Poultry house should be structurally strong, durable, and cheap.

It is very important that food troughs should not be overfilled and neither should the tube feeders be too widely opened. The construction of the food trough is also important and there exist types that reduce spillage and so reduce food wastage by up to 20 percent. Food wastage can turn a profitable enterprise into one making a considerable loss

Read Also: Fold Poultry Production System

Agric4Profits

Benadine Nonye is an agricultural consultant and a writer with over 12 years of professional experience in the agriculture industry. - National Diploma in Agricultural Technology - Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Science - Master's Degree in Science Education... Visit My Websites On: 1. Agric4Profits.com - Your Comprehensive Practical Agricultural Knowledge and Farmer’s Guide Website! 2. WealthinWastes.com - For Effective Environmental Management through Proper Waste Management and Recycling Practices! Join Me On: Twitter: @benadinenonye - Instagram: benadinenonye - LinkedIn: benadinenonye - YouTube: Agric4Profits TV and WealthInWastes TV - Pinterest: BenadineNonye4u - Facebook: BenadineNonye

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