Humidity in a chicken house


Posted on September 2, 2011 by Admin

Humidity in a chicken house is a critical factor – many small farmers concentrate on the temperature of the chicken house only – this is a mistake and chicken farmers should learn what, and how, relative humidity can affect how the chickens eat and therefore their growth rate. To measure the humidity in a poultry house, a Wet Dry thermometer is used. The humidity should never go above 80%.

The other tools in the poultry farmers arsenal are the gas heaters, the poultry fans and the winched poultry curtains – with these 3 pieces of poultry equipment – and a min max thermometer, a chicken farmer will be able to maintain temperature and humidity in the poultry house. A Wet Dry thermometer can be purchased from Chicken Shack Agencies.

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How much is a layer cage?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Admin

How much is a layer cage?

Layer cage prices vary from supplier to supplier – the size of the layer cage affects the price as well as the accessories. A layer cage should come with a nipple drinking system and  troughs at the front of the cage for the chickens to feed from.

The number of layer cages you can fit in a layer house depends on the size of the chicken house – a layer house is not the same as a broiler house – so when getting a quote on a chicken house make sure you specify that is is for layer cages – if you are doing free range chicken farming or organic chicken houses they do not have to as high as a chicken house with layer cages.

Layer cages are double tier – which means that that the chickens live on two levels – this means that the top layer cages are quite close to the roof. In a chicken house that has no insulation this can be a problem in hot areas – so the layer houses are built higher than broiler houses. Poultry houses for layers are also wider than you would expect. This is to accommodate the layer cages and have enopugh room to move around the cages when collecting the chicken eggs.

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Nest boxes or Layer cages?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Admin

What is the best to use in a chicken house when you are producing chicken eggs? – Nest boxes or layer cages? To answer the question you must first decide if you want to be seen as green or not. Nest boxes are considered more chicken friendly – in fact in the UEU countries layer cages are banned as being cruel to poultry. In a layer house that is producing eggs that will go to a hatchery you will have to use nest boxes. This is because in a poultry house that supplies a hatchery you will have cocks (male chickens) and layers (egg producing hens). The eggs need to be fertilised (hence the cocks) so that they will hatch into chicks – these are sold as day old chickens to chicken farmers that are growing broilers (chickens raised for eating).

poultry nest box for a chicken house

10 hole nest box

In a laying house that is producing eggs for consumption or eating, you can use either layer cages or nest boxes. Layer cages give you more control over your flock than nest boxes – but nest boxes make for happier chickens – as they can move around at will and exercise. They have some semblance of normailty as the can forage and socialise. It is debatable whether your results are beter with layer cages rather than nest boxes.

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