Housing is necessary to protect chicken against predators, thieves, bad weather and provide shelter for egg laying and broody hens.

Site selection

The location should be dry and flat.

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Poorly drained sites should be avoided or alternatively the house can be elevated from the ground.

Select a secure site away from predators and thieves.

In rectangular houses, the end walls should face an East-West direction.

Clear all grass and bushes for about 3 metres on all sides of the house to keep away rodents and reptiles.



Ensure winds ventilate the house without causing draught (cold).

To protect against build-up of disease-causing agents and parasites, the house must be easily accessible and easy to clean.

Poultry houses should have openings on either side for ventilation.

A hole or ridge on the roof will ensure proper ventilation.

Housing chicken



Building materials

Use locally available material like timber, iron sheets, off-cuts, and clay bricks.

Remove all barks from wood to reduce parasite load.

Floor

Use slatted or raised floors to remove droppings and avoid predators.

Remove any sharp-edged objects from the floor to prevent possible injury.

A concrete floor is recommended for ease of cleaning and disinfection.

Litter

Litter should be provided on all deep litter floor systems and laying nests.

Wood shavings, shredded paper and hay can be used.

Lighting

Most important in laying hens in controlling number and weight of eggs.

Light intensity should be such that a person can read a newspaper at the centre of the house.

Excessive lighting can lead to cannibalism and other vices.

Perches

Perches are important for the chicken to roost on at night and during the daytime.

They also reduce boredom and other vices like pecking and fighting.

Each one-metre perch may roost five adult birds.

Perches are best made from rounded sticks, which match the size of the birds’ feet.

Laying nests

Laying nests ease egg collection and help avoid dirty and cracked eggs and should be provided at the onset of laying (18 weeks of age).

Avoid placing nests on the ground or outside the chicken house as this will expose the eggs to predators and thieves.

Remove eggs continuously from the nest to stop hens going broody.

Nests should be placed inside the chicken house and preferable above the ground.

Provide one laying nest for every 5 hens.

To prevent egg eating, laying areas should be placed in dark areas of the house.

Brooding nests are individual nests and should be placed in quiet and dark areas where they are easily removed for cleaning.

Once the hen is broody, it may be necessary to move her to an isolated place to avoid other hens disturbing her or going broody as well.

Nests could either be: communal nest where more than one hen are sharing or individual nest when one hen lays at a time.

Biosecurity

Biosecurity is a set of management practices which when followed reduces the likelihood of introducing or spreading disease-causing organisms. Infectious agents can survive for a certain period in the environment and spread via persons, animals and materials that might carry the agent.

Common biosecurity measures:

  • Location: Locate your farm away from existing premises (between farms 500 m to 1 km)
  • All-in-all-out: reduce build-up of the disease-causing organism by breaking the rearing cycle of different ages.
  • Litter disposal: remove used litter and properly dispose and disinfect it.
  • Site security: Reduces possible introduction of infection to premises by mainly from personnel moving between houses and flocks, equipment and other innate objects. Use foot and vehicle bath

Stocking density

Stocking density on a deep litter system.

Age

Floor Space

1-10 weeks

10 birds/ m2

11- 18 weeks

8 birds/ m2

19 – 78 weeks

5 birds/ m2

 

 This article has been adapted from the KALRO App on Indigenous Kienyeji Chicken.

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