For automatic chicken house design, we should consider the following aspects:
(1) Basic requirements for chicken house design
Determine the type of chicken house based on the natural conditions of the area and the feeding methods and quantity. Have sufficient lighting and ventilation conditions. Good thermal insulation properties. Easy to clean and disinfect
(2) Types of chicken house
- Open chicken house. Open chicken house is suitable for small and medium-sized professional chicken farmers. Depending on the situation, manual chicken cages or semi-high bed cage chicken houses can be used.
- Closed chicken house. At present, only large-scale mechanized chicken farms use closed chicken houses
(3) Structure and requirements of various parts of the chicken house
1.Roof. Roof materials are required to have good thermal insulation and insulation properties and not seep water. In rural areas, plastic greenhouses and asbestos tiles with thermal insulation layers can be used.
2. Wall. The walls are required to have good thermal insulation properties and have cement dados to facilitate cleaning and disinfection.
3. Ground. The floor needs to be flat, moisture-proof, and easy to clean, wash and disinfect. At present, brick or cement floors are mostly used.
4. Doors and windows. The door needs to be strong and tight, and easy to open and close. Generally, the ratio of window area to ground area in the chicken house is 1:10~15, which is conducive to ventilation and lighting.
(4) Common patterns of chicken houses
1. Broiler chicken flat chicken house
(1) Litter flat chicken cage. Litter flat chicken houses are mainly suitable for raising broiler chickens. The chicken house is mostly made of dirt or tiles, with bedding on top. Commonly used litter materials include sawdust, chaff, chopped wheat straw or straw, etc. Generally, the litter and chicken manure are removed together after completing a feeding cycle. This type of chicken house is prone to parasitic diseases such as coccidiosis.
(2) Online chicken house. The online flat chicken house is suitable for raising breeder chickens and broiler chickens. Use wooden bars and plastic nets to lay the entire breeding area about 50 cm above the ground in the chicken house. Chickens live online, making it easier to control diseases spread by feces.
(3) Mixed ground chicken house. The inside of the chicken house is a slat bed or a plastic mesh surface, and the door opens to the ground outside, which can be an orchard or a forest. Chickens drink water and feed online and exercise outdoors, which is suitable for rural areas.
2. Battery chicken cage system
Cage farming is the most common way of raising laying hens. A large number of metal chicken cages are placed in the chicken house. This raising method has high breeding density, small floor space, saves feed, and is also beneficial to disease prevention. It is also suitable for breeder chickens and chickens. Broiler chickens are raised on a large scale.
(1)H type chicken cages. H type battery chicken cages are made up of multiple layers of chicken cages stacked on top of each other. The distance between each layer is about 10 cm. There are manure-bearing boards made of plastic, laminate and other materials. Generally, 3 layers are suitable. Every two cages are installed back to back, and dozens of cages form a row, with a 1 to 1.5 meter aisle between each two rows. This type of layout occupies less space and can raise more chickens per unit area. In rural areas, the space under the eaves can be used, and multi-layer chicken cages are more economical to raise chickens.
(2) A type of chicken cages. When using the artificial insemination method, it is one of the main breeding cages for raising breeder chickens or laying hens, and the three-layer chicken cage structure is often used. The layers of H type chicken cages are all staggered, so feces fall directly into the pit or the ground without installing a feces-bearing board. Artificial feeding and egg collection are required, but they occupy a large area, which reduces the number of chickens per unit area.
(4) Drinking water and feeding equipment for caged chicken houses. Commonly used drinking water equipment include drinking troughs and automatic drinking fountains. The drinking trough can be made of plastic pipes or large bamboos cut in half into a “U” shape, with a depth of 50~60 mm and a width of 50 mm at the top. Comparison of the use of automatic drinking lines (nipple type) throughout. Generally, plastic troughs are used.
