Poultry house is needed to protect birds from adverse climatic conditions and to manage overall operations in easy and economical manner.
While selecting site for poultry housing, priority to be given to site away from residential area. Also it should have proper road facilities and should have the basic amenities such as water and electricity. The proposed site should also locate at elevated area and with good ventilation. The long axis poultry house should be lies in east-west direction to prevent the direct sunshine.
Proper housing is very much important factor considered for sound poultry farming. Poultry birds in growing stage and laying hens need well ventilated and comfortable houses. A comfortable poultry house should have sufficient accommodation for every bird, relatively cool in summer season and sufficiently warm in winter season.
It should also provide enough air flow and light and should free from any moisture. In addition, protection of birds from their natural enemies such as cats, snakes and some enemy birds of poultry should also be kept in view.
For poultry housing, mainly three systems are in practice.
1) The free-range systems
2) The semi-intensive system and
3) The intensive system.
1) In the free-range system, the poultry birds are usually allow roaming freely during day time and kept confined during the night hours. This system is much common in rural parts.
2) In the semi-intensive system, night shelter is provided to poultry birds and during day time open area with fencing is provided.
3) In intensive system, poultry birds are completely confined with suitable arrangements for nesting, feeding, watering, etc, inside the housing itself. In this system, proper care should take regarding nutrition and management.
This system is further classified as Deep litter system, slatted floor system and cage system.
In deep litter system, the birds are kept inside the house all the time. Feed and water arrangement are made inside the house. Suitable litter (made from paddy husk, ground nut hulls, saw dust, chopped paddy straw etc) is provided.
In slatted floor system, wooden reapers or iron rods are used as floor, usually at height of 2-3 feet above ground level.
In cage system, birds are placed in raised wire netting floor in small compartments, called cages. At present, approximate 75% of commercial layers worldwide are kept in cages. Feeders and waterer are also attached to cages.
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