TIPS ABOUT POULTRY FARMING

I’ve seen many people build fine poultry pens that end up becoming stress centers for the birds. Why? Because they didn’t calculate the right space the birds need.

Before you start building your poultry pen, let me give you a very important advice—don’t just carry block and zinc and start building because you’re excited to raise birds. First, ask yourself: how much space do these birds really need to grow well?

Many farmers make the mistake of overcrowding their chickens. When birds don’t have enough room to move freely, they get stressed, they fight, they eat less, and they become more exposed to diseases. At the end, you spend more on treatment and feed, and still don’t get good results.

Let me make it simple for you.

If you want to raise layers on deep litter, chicks from 0 to 7 weeks need about 0.065 square metres each. That means for 100 chicks, you need a pen of 6.5 square metres. In dimensions, that is roughly 2.5 metres by 2.6 metres. From 8 to 11 weeks, each bird will need 0.09 square metres. That means you’ll need 9 square metres for 100 birds, which is about 3 metres by 3 metres. From 12 to 19 weeks, space increases to 0.18 square metres per bird, which means 100 birds will need 18 square metres—roughly 3 metres by 6 metres. For mature layers of 20 weeks and above, each bird needs 0.27 square metres. That’s 27 square metres for 100 birds, about 3 metres by 9 metres.

If you’re raising broilers, from 0 to 4 weeks each chick needs 0.05 square metres. So 100 chicks will need 5 square metres, which is about 2 metres by 2.5 metres. From 5 to 8 weeks, each bird should get 0.09 square metres, meaning 100 broilers will need 9 square metres, about 3 metres by 3 metres.

You can see now that it's not about just building anyhow. Each stage of your birds' growth has its own space requirement. That is why a brooding pen is different from a pen meant for mature birds. Whether you're raising broilers or layers, you must plan the structure well from the start.

Are you planning to start poultry? Don’t rush into it blindly. First, learn what you truly need—how many birds you want to raise, how much space they need, and what kind of structure suits your budget and target.

To be continued @ HappyPet Veterinary.