.Prof.

Dr
Yasser Metawea
Aim:
1. Protect birds from environmental extremes.
2. Protect birds from predators.
3. Large number of birds could be kept in one
place with easier management and handling
as one group.
4. Provide birds with their optimal
requirements, while keeping the costs and
labor requirements as low as possible.
5. Provide better and easier control of diseases
and parasites.
 System of poultry housing depend on
1-Stocking density:
Three systems are used for poultry housing
(intensive, semi-intensive and extensive).
a- Intensive system:
• Used for commercial poultry production in which
not less than 20 kg up to 40 kg of body weight/m2
• Birds are confined in their buildings allover their
life and microclimatic factors are generally
controlled to provide birds with the sufficient
protection and supplies them with their
requirements for maximum production.
• It may be deep litter system or slated floor system or
battery system.
 B- Extensive systems:
• Extensive systems e.g. free range system
birds have more freedom to express their
normal behavioral patterns and to have more
contact with the surrounding environment
with the least interference or alteration.
• Birds are housed during night in either fixed
or movable buildings and they have a free
access to a pasture in the morning, as mush
as 10 m2 per bird
C- Semi-intensive system
• In semi-intensive system more space area is allowed
per bird compared to the intensive systems, but less
control over the surrounding environment and
microclimatic conditions is attempted (about 2.5
square meter for each bird).
• This system is a midway between the intensive and
extensive systems (stocking density)
• It generally provides birds with a suitable building
surrounded by two or more areas of pasture opened
in rotation.
• It may be fixed pen with outside run
:II- Place assigned for birds
• The flock could be kept either directly on the floor
of the building (floor systems) or in cages (battery
system).
• Floor systems could be subdivided into another two
distinct systems according to the type of the floor
which could be in the form of either dirt floor or
concrete floor covered with a suitable bedding
material (deep litter system)
• Slatted floor system in which the slatted area
constitutes either the whole floor area (totally
slatted), or about one third or two thirds of the
floor above which lies feeders and drinkers,
while the remaining area is covered with litter
(partially slatted with deep litter).
• On the other hand cages in battery system
could be arranged in the poultry house in
different forms (flat deck, Californian or
stair step and multi-tiers).
III- System of ventilation:
Poultry houses could be defined as either:
• Opened (conventional, or naturally ventilated
houses) which are depend on the natural flow of
wind for ventilation and they are mostly open sided
buildings.
• Closed (environmentally controlled or
mechanically ventilated houses) in which the
ventilation and the entire microclimatic environment
inside the building is mechanically controlled.
IV- Systems used during rearing and
production:
• Multistage system: in egg production sector
some poultry farms use dirt floor buildings
(deep litter system) for rearing chicks and then
transfer them to complete their life or other
stages of their production cycle on different
system (battery system)
• Single stage system in which birds could be
kept on the same housing system during
brooding, rearing and production
V- Flock type and production system:
Laying hens
1- Battery cages with a space area of about 450 cm2/
bird and 10 cm/ bird at feeder. (mainly)
2- Deep litter (rare) with a maximum of 7 birds per m2
and 1 nest/5 birds.
3- Mixed deep litter and slatted floor with a maximum
of 11.7 bird per m2
4- Free range system could be used with a continuous
daytime access to a pasture with a maximum of
1000 birds per hectare.
Breeders stock

• Deep litter with a maximum stocking density of 17

kg live body weight per square meter (5 birds/m2),
1/3 the floor area could be covered with slatted
floor over a shallow dropping pit.

Broilers

Are generally housed on deep litter with a stocking

density of up to 40 kg/m2. (closed system)
General requirements for poultry housing
Site selection:
• Poultry farm should be located away from nuisances
such as highways, railroad, trucks and airports. On
the meantime poultry farm should be in close
proximity to the main road.
• Sufficient water supply of adequate quality should
be considered before building the farm.
• Provision of an ample power supply with a standby
generator to help in case of power being cutoff
should be considered especially in automated
buildings.
• Materials used for construction of different
buildings should be of adequate quality , not need
high maintenance costs.
• The possibility of future use of solar collectors
should be considered (southern exposure is needed).
• Buildings should be spaced at least 20 m apart to
reduce the risk of multiple building fires, but close
enough to the poultry-man house for easy and
frequent check at night in bad weather.
• Sites around the buildings should be adequately
prepared before houses are built and surroundings
should be well drained to avoid run-off between
houses.
• Poultry farm should be constructed to provide
an easy movement of vehicles.
• Clean and well planned roads with suitable
dimensions should be provided inside the farm
for easy connection among different buildings
in the farm.
• Safety and comfort of poultry-men and their
families should be taken into account.
• The farm should have fire protection for all
• Equipments and other potentially
dangerous areas should have sufficient
safety precautions and must be away from
children reach.
• All areas should be seeded with a low
maintenance grass, especially around the
undesirable features such as incinerators.
• Plants can also be used as windbreaks.
 Building construction:
Foundation:
• Should be adequate and deep enough to support the building
and to keep-out surface water
The depth of the foundation depends on the thickness of
the wall
• In 12 cm wall thickness, the depth of the foundation must
be 40-45 cm
• In 25 cm thickness of the wall the depth of foundation is
50-120cm according type of the floor or ground.
• The thickness of foundation 25-30 cm and covered
with 1-2 cm of tar to prevent the entrance of cold
humidity inside the building.
Floor
• Floor of modern poultry houses could be one of three types
(dirt floor, concrete floor or slatted floor).
• Dirt floor covered with different litter materials could be
used for broiler houses and for breeder stocks but it is
generally preferred to have a concrete floor instead of the
dirt floor for easy management and disinfection between
batches.
• Different bedding materials could be used e.g. wood
shavings, sawdust, and chopped straw of about 10 cm
above the floor.
• Concrete floors are widely used in caged layer
houses as they are moisture proof, rat proof, durable
and easily cleaned and disinfected.
• Slatted floors could be used for broiler breeder
flocks to cover up to two thirds of the floor area,
while the other third is dirt floor on which birds, this
type of slatted floor gives cleaner hatching eggs.
• It could also be used for layers but not
recommended for broilers to avoid breast blisters
unless a plastic coated slates or wooden slates could
be used instead of the metal slates to alleviate the
pressure on the bird.
• The floor could be totally slatted or mixed
with a deep litter, in mixed systems slates
could cover about 60% from the space area
while the other 40% is deep litter.
• Slates should be 2.5- 5 cm wide and spaced
about 2.5 cm apart from each others and run
along the building, wire mesh could also be
used for the same purpose with a mesh size of
2.5 × 5 cm.
• The slatted floor should be constructed above a
dropping pit of about 70 cm from the floor; the sides
of the dropping pit should be surrounded by a wire
mesh for better air movement above the dropping to
keep them dry and also to prevent access of rodents
and other insects to the dropping pit.
• Whether slatted or wire mesh floors are used it
should be constructed in sections for easy removal
and cleaning underneath.
• Totally slatted floor increases number of birds per
square area to about two folds, hence giving the
chance to keep more birds in a small space area.
Wall
• It should be made of solid material to support the
roof and withstand heavy wind, they also have to be
easily cleaned and disinfected and also with
suitable insulation.
• Side walls are generally made from concrete blocks
(12- 25 cm thick)
• The height of the wall is varied from 3-3.5 meter
according the type of roof and its style
• Windows could be provided in the form of
controllable hopper windows situated along the
walls of the building, they should have an external
hood to function as light and wind trap.
• For opened poultry houses which mainly depends on
natural cross ventilation a continuous opened side walls
used as both inlets and outlets, the base of the opened area
should be about 120- 150 cm from the floor of the building,
surrounded by a wooden frame and constitutes about 20%
- from the floor area.
• It is generally recommended that the opened area
shouldn’t exceed half the wall area.
• The whole area of openings should be covered with
wire net to prevent access of rodents and predators.
• The length of the building should be maximum
of 80 meter for easily supervision and
management.
• If the length is more than 80 meters, the
building should be divided into two parts for
easily management.
• The wall should be lined internally with
smooth layer of cement, so no cracks to
avoid lodgment of bacteria or parasites.
• Light traps could be used over the windows
to control light otherwise opaque curtains
could be used to control the size of opened
area.
• Environmentally controlled building which
depend on artificial means of light must have
air inlets and outlets designed and carefully
constructed as calculated, they could constitute
as less as 5- 8% from the floor area.
• Doors should be large enough to cope with the
system used for cleaning and managing the
building, side doors could be provided each 15- 30
m for long buildings for easy management.
• Poultry buildings should have a height of about 3m
from the floor, high buildings have improved and
better air flow in hot season.
• The width of poultry buildings vary according to
type of ventilation, for naturally ventilated buildings
a width of about 10 m is recommended, while for
environmentally controlled buildings a width of not
more than 12.2 m is recommended for most types of
ventilation systems.
Roof:
• Metal roofs of either aluminum or galvanized steel
could generally be used for their low maintenance
requirements, easy installation and durability.
• Corrugated asbestos sheets could also be used as a
roof material for different poultry houses.
• Roofs should be insulated during construction to
have R value of 8.
• Gable roof is the most recommended for opened
type buildings, a good overhang of about 60 cm
prevents rain from entering the building and a gutter
should be provided for collection of rainwater.
Ventilation
• Urine is excreted from poultry in a solid form, while
moisture is discarded from the body through the
respiratory process. This means that poultry
houses should be designed with an efficient and well
designed ventilation system to remove the warm
humid air
• Proper ventilation for poultry houses could be
performed either naturally (in open sided houses) or
artificially (by the aid of positive or negative
pressure fans).
• In broiler houses the capacity for air movement
should be about 7m3 fresh air/hour/finished bird in
summer, while in winter a day old chick requires not
more than 0.08 m3 of fresh air/ hour.
• On the other hand for layers in cages a maximum of
6 m3/hour/kg body weight is recommended.
• With heavy broiler breeder birds a level of up to 11
m3/hour/ kg body weight is recommended in warm
summer.
• Less capacity fans could be used in cold
weather so that cold air is not drawn on the
birds, a speed of 0.15- 0.25 m/second is
recommended in winter
• while in summer an air movement of at least
five or six times this figure is suitable.
• To achieve proper ventilation in poultry
building, fans should be well distributed in the
building and should be speed-controlled.
Naturally ventilated poultry houses:
• This type of houses could also be defined as open-
type poultry houses in which the orientation of
the building plays an important and essential role
in ventilation efficiency.
• Ventilation in opened building depends on
presence of well designed and properly distributed
air inlets and outlets.
• Air inlets are in the form of side windows which
could be provided with curtains or other means to
control their area.
• Air outlet could be in the form of openings at
roof level (roof ventilation), otherwise it could
be side windows or opened areas in the
opposite side of the air inlets (cross
ventilation)
• The longitudinal axis of this type of houses
should be perpendicular on the prevailing
wind direction to get the full advantage of air
movement during the hot season. This is the
most predominant system in EGYPT,
especially for keeping broiler birds.
• For designing such type of poultry houses
the following criteria should be considered:
• The width of the building should not exceed 10 m.
• The length of the building could be of any
convenient length providing that side doors are
available each 15- 30 m for easy service and
movement of the farm
• The height of the building should not be less than 3
m for better aeration especially in hot weather.
• Naturally ventilated buildings shouldn’t be
located too close to each other to prevent
spreading of diseases and to improve
ventilation.
• The suitable distance between buildings
could be calculated from the following
formula:
D = 0.4 × H × (L) 0.5
Where: D= separation distance between both
buildings H = height of the building in feet.
• L = length of the building in feet.
• The total opened area should constitute
about 10-20% from the total floor area
of the building.
• Windows or air openings should be
about 120- 150 cm from the floor of the
building, while another line of baffle
windows could be constructed 30 cm
from eaves of the building for more
efficient ventilation in hot days.
• The roof of the building could be gable type or
horizontal,
• gable roof is more efficient in hot climate
• but the horizontal roof gives better chance for
building for more expansion
• this type of roof could be isolated from outside
using local available materials as straw or wood
shavings and in hot days hosing with a considerable
amount of water could be recommended to reduce
the heat flow through it from direct sunrays to inside
the building
• Naturally ventilated buildings could be
provided with positive pressure fans
(suspended from the roof) or negative
pressure fans in the sidewall to improve
ventilation during extra hot days
• When the humidity is not high another
means for evaporative cooling could also
be used as sprinklers and foggers.
Environmentally controlled poultry houses:
• This type of houses could also be defined as closed-
type poultry houses, which depend on mechanical
fan ventilation (positive or negative pressure
systems).
• In positive pressure system the air is forced into
the house by using suitable fans and allowed to exit
through specific outlets
• While in negative pressure system the air is sucked
out of the building using exhausting fans and enters
through especially designed air inlets.
• The orientation of such a type of fan-
ventilated poultry housing should be
considered as to the wind will have the
minimal effect on the ventilation system,
which also could be provided by protecting the
openings of fans, from outside the house, by
hoods or overhanging structures.
• In any system where droppings accumulate
under the bird as in deep pit house,
 Equipments
Of Poultry House
 Equipments of poultry house
Feeders
• It could be manually or automatically filled, they
could be in the form of feeding troughs or tubular
feeders, automatic chain feeders could also be used,
• The height of the feeding trough should be carefully
regarded as their height should be just above the
back of the birds, while for day-old chicks the
troughs should be placed at the floor level.
• Feeders should be equally distributed in the building
• Birds should have the right space allowance on
feeders according to the feeder type and the birds’
age as recommended from the following table:
Drinkers
• Could also be manually filled trough, or automatic
bell shape drinkers or nipples
• they should also be equally distributed in the
building and provide enough space per bird (birds
from 1 to 12 weeks of age need a space of 1.3 cm
around the drinker per each bird, from 12 weeks of
age and up they need about 2.6 cm/ bird), one nipple
could be sufficient for 10 birds.
• The amount of water consumption for each bird
depends upon its age
Automatic bell-type drinkers
Drinking nipple and cup
Laying cages
• Cages are the main place assigned for birds in
battery system, which is predominantly used
for layers.
• Birds are kept in groups of 5- 6 birds per
cage, with a space allowance of about
400- 450 cm2.
• The height of the most lying cages is about 40
cm at the front of the cage and 35 cm at the
back.
• The cage floor is mostly from wire mesh
(2.5× 5 cm) sloped from the back of the cage
to the front for easy collection of the rolling
egg with a maximum floor slope 8° - 12°
• A rubber or plastic bumper should be
provided to the front edge of the egg collection
area to prevent breakage of eggs.
• An automatic egg collection could be
performed by using movable belts to transfer
the eggs from cages to an egg collection area.
• Drinkers are provided to cages in the form of
nipples and cup, two nipples per cage.
• Feeders are in the form of chain feeders at the
front of cages, giving a space allowance of about
10 cm per bird,
• Feeding process could be achieved manually or
mechanically according to management program of
the farm, design of the building and arrangement
of cages inside the building.
• Droppings are collected over belts running under
cages and scrapped regularly otherwise droppings
could be collected in shallow or deep manure pit
constructed under the cages.
• Cages in the building could be arranged in one of
the following forms:
• flat deck, stair step (Californian), or multi-tiers,
which could have the cages arranged in
• two tiers to give a stocking density of about 15bird
per square meter of house floor area,
• Three tiers to give a stocking density of
about 20 birds per square meter
• Four tiers of cages to give a density of as
much as 27 birds per square meter of
house floor area,
• It is a common practice now in many
modern farms to have 6- 8 tiers of cages
in layer houses.
Semi-stepped cages
Nest boxes
• Nest boxes are generally used for floor systems of
breeder flocks and it must be near the hen.
• Individual nests are mostly used in commercial
bases; they could be made from different materials
e.g. galvanized metal.
• Each nest box is large enough to hold one hen (30
cm wide× 30 cm high× 35 cm deep) the floor of the
nest should be bedded with 2.5- 5 cm deep nest
material.
• The nest box should be provided with a perch

in front of the box to keep the nest cleaned,

well ventilated and provide with soft floor.

• One nest box can serve five birds and nest

boxes could be arranged in double deck either

at the side wall or in the middle of the

building.
Some common types of nest box: (from
left to right)
• Wooden boxes with wood shaving as
litter, Metal boxes with plastic rollaways
 Type of nest
• Single nest
Its dimensions 30x30x35 cm and used
for 5 hens
• Community or family nest
Its dimensions 200x50x35 cm and
commonly used for 50 hens.
Perches (roosts)
• It could be provided to floor systems of
breeders as they improve the feet and feather
conditions and reduce floor laying.
• Perches could be made from suitable material
e.g. wood using boards of 5cm × 5cm and
about 35 cm apart from each others providing
a space area of 20 cm/bird over the perch.
• The height of perches about 35 cm from the ground
• Perches could be fitted over a dropping pit 80 cm
from the floor).
Dropping pits:
• Dropping pits are used for slatted floor systems
and wherever roosters are used.
• They could be either shallow up to 80 cm above the
floor of the building) or deep (about 2 m under the
floor of the building) depending on frequency of
evacuation and management program.
• Pits should be efficiently ventilated to prevent
emission of toxic gases and protected to prevent
access of rodents and flies.
Lighting system:

• Light bulbs should be kept clean and equally

distributed to provide an intensity of about

• 40 lux for the first few days of broilers age or

decreased to as low as

• 3 lux at the tenth day of age and up to the end of

production cycle of broiler birds.

• Light could be manually or
automatically controlled to cope with the
management program
• Lighting system according to age and
type of birds.
• Types of artificial light could be used
namely mercury and fluorescent.
Brooders
• Brooders are used to supply day old chicks with
their requirements from supplementary heat during
brooding period (0-4 weeks).
• The mostly used hover-type brooder has the heat
unit covered with a rounded sheet of metal to
reflect the heat downward and they are usually
suspended from the ceiling (about 90 cm from the
litter) with the possibility to be easily raised,
lowered or removed away at the end of the
brooding period.
• Thermostatically controlled electric brooders or
infrared heaters could be used.
• Brooders have different sizes and capacity (it is
usual to use one canopy brooder for 500 chicks).
• A guard of about 50 cm high and about 150 cm
away from the hover edge should be used to
prevent chicks from wandering away from the
source of heat.
• Brooders are usually distributed at the last or the
rear third of the building where brooding is taking
place.
• Infra-red lamps transmit deeply penetrating
heat rays that warm the chicks without
heating the air in between. A 250 watt bulb
provides enough warmth for 100 chicks when
a reflector bulb is used.
• Gas brooder using kerosene or gas as a
source of heat-oil burners, provide a
dependable, easily source of heat.
Cooling systems
• Cooling systems are numerous and vary
according to the desirable degree of cooling,
type of building and costs.
• Proper insulation of the building has an
important role in reducing costs of cooling.
• The use of some reflective protection is
recommended in hot weather
• Un-insulated roofs could be cooled down by
sprinkling or uniformly wetting them.
• Many interior cooling systems could be used
to increase heat loss by convection or
evaporation.
• The building might be equipped with a
suspended fans in the center of the building
(1.2 m above the litter)
• It is highly recommended to have multi-
speed fans, spaced 6-15 m apart and tilted
about 8° from vertical to direct air down over
birds, suspended fans should be protected to
prevent injury of caretaker.
• Ceiling fans could also be used for
cooling birds; they should be suspended
about 2.7 m above the birds and have a
distance of 7.6 -15 m apart.
• In hot dry climate using of desert-type
air cooler is beneficial for small scale,
naturally ventilated buildings
• Evaporative cooling systems could also be
used and they are mostly recommended
whenever the temperature exceeds 37.7 C,
there is generally two forms of this system
namely fogging (high pressure system) and
sprinkling (low pressure system).
• Cooling systems must be controlled either
thermostatically or manually; a set point of
29.5-32 C might be used for the fans, while
for evaporative cooling system a temperature
of 32-35 is suitable as a set point.
• Evaporative cooling pads are used for
cooling environmentally controlled buildings.
• Type and size of the pad and designed air
speed should be carefully considered to
achieve proper cooling of the building.
• Pad systems should be designed for uniform
wetting and recovery of water; they should be
equipped with filters to remove particles
which may clog the holes in the distribution
line.
• Pads can be located anywhere along the wall
of the house or in a special structure
attached to the building.
Exterior view of a wood fibre
.evaporative cooling pad
Alarm systems
It should be provided to detect the off-limits
increase of temperature inside the building.
Egg handling equipments
• Are in the form of moving belts which run in
front of cages, they not only convey the eggs
to a special room but they also count them as
well.
• The automatic gatherer can also be attached
to a washer, grader, Candler if desired.
• Large poultry farms depend on automatic egg
gathering to save time and labor.
• For small scale producers eggs could be collected
manually in egg basket or egg flats.
• Hatching eggs should be collected manually, with
special care, in baskets or egg flats 3 or 4 times
daily,
• If the temperature inside the building approached
30 C eggs should be gathered hourly and placed in
a cool clean room for 5-6 hours before storing.
Egg grading machine
 Supplementary units
Manure handling facilities
• Are vitally important to maintain hygienic measures
inside the poultry building and prevent buildup of
humidity and toxic gases.
• Handling system of poultry manure includes
removing manure from poultry houses, treating
and transporting it to the field.
• Manure may be handled in solid (poultry litter),
which is the predominant form of poultry manure
especially from broiler farms or in liquid form
(mostly generated in laying hen operations and
hatchery wastes), liquid manure usually contains
less than 15% solid material.
• Solid manure is typically removed from the building
by tractor- mounted box scrapers or front end
loaders, the litter could be applied directly to the
land or roofed structures away from the poultry
building.
• Fresh liquid manure may be flushed into an opened
shallow lagoon or into oxidation pond, it could
either under go sedimentation or filtration to be
easily pumped from storage reservoirs into tank
bearing vehicle for transportation to the field.
• Liquid manure may undergo dehydration to remove
the moisture content and prevent bacterial growth
responsible for the bad odor.
 Dead birds’ handling facilities:
• Dead birds are best incinerated but care should be
taken to select the proper site of the incinerator
to be away from the building
• Wind direction should be considered to avoid
smoke and toxic gasses from the unit.
• Hatchery debris may also be burned.
• Several sizes of incinerators or cremators either
gas or oil types are commercially available.
 Feed handling facilities
• Feed storing room has been replaced by
bulk feed tanks or silos in most
commercial poultry farms.
• Silos are generally placed next to the
building; their size should be enough for
holding one week’s supply of feed, plus
about two days’ reserve.
• Fiberglass and galvanized silos are
commercially available, they are supplied
with conveyors, weighting and dosing
 Power supply Unit:
• A standby generator should be
carefully tested.
• The total supply capacity should
exceed the sum of all separate
loads
• because starting loads of motors
are about 20% higher than
running loads.
 Egg storing-room
• It used to keep commercial table eggs
till marketing at a temperature of 15 C
or lower and a relative humidity of about
75%.
• Hatching eggs should be chosen with
special care to all details of egg size,
shape, cleanliness and shell quality.
• Only selected eggs should be stored till
time of transporting them to hatchery.
• Hatching eggs should be fumigated
with formaldehyde gas for a 20
minutes period immediately after
collection to reduce shell
contamination and improve
hatchability,
• 60 gram of potassium permanganate
to 120 ml formalin per 2.83 m3 of
fumigation room is recommended (a
concentration of 3 X).
• Hatching eggs should be held at the storing
room for not more than four days at a
temperature of 18 C and 75% relative
humidity,
• A temperature of 16 C and 80% relative
humidity are ideal for hatching eggs stored for
up to 1 week,
• but if the eggs have to be stored for a period of
10- 14 days the temperature has to be reduced
to 10- 13 C, while relative humidity should be
elevated to 85%.
• For hatching eggs, the storing room
requires a uniform temperature and
relative humidity level,

• it should be equipped with shelves

and trays to keep the eggs with their
large end up.
 Intensive poultry production
1- Deep litter system:
• This is a modified system where , instead of a
thin layer of litter which changed frequently
• The litter is normally changed after 7-8 weeks
or at the end of fattening period (broiler)
• or after 2-4 months to be used as fertilizer in
cage of laying birds
• The floor of the building should be
• First sprinkled with hydrate lime
• finally spread the bedding material
• The bedding material may be straw, saw
dust, rice straw or wood shaving
• Amount of bedding material, straw is
commonly used at a rate of 15 kg sufficient
for 10 m2 and the thickness 5 cm or 30 kg
for 10 m2 and the thickness become 10 cm.
Management of bedding
• The bedding should be turned every 2-3 days especially
during winter. If the bedding is dry , it is not essential to
turn it to avoid disruption of dust which form a dust
infection
• If any reason, a part of bedding was wetted , remove it and
replace by dry one
• Slacked lime is added to bedding once in winter and twice
in summer at a rate of 5 kg/100 m2 for absorption of
humidity and also for control of ammonia.
• Supper phosphate is added at a rate of 50-100 gm/meter
once during winter and twice during summer, this chemical
increases the value of the bedding as fertilizer by prevent
the analysis of nitrogen and evaporation of ammonia
• Sufficient ventilation should be provided, the best type of
inlet ventilation is baffled system
• The space available is 0.27 – 0.36 m2 per bird, if the
litter is to work properly
• For breeder, its hygienically and economically to have a
slatted area over a dropping pit for perching and roosting,
it also can take the food and water troughs, in this way,
the litter receives proportionally less dropping, so density
of stocking can be increased
• with an area of deep litter combined with a dropping
pit of equal proportions 0.18 m2/bird of heavy breeds
and 0.14 m2 /bird of light breeds
 Methods of starting
1- Disinfection of the building include
a- disinfection of the floor
After washing of the floor with 4.5 % washing
sods to kill coccidian cysts, apply disinfectant, let
it to dry and sprinkle the floor with a slacked lime,
then put the straw
b- Disinfection of straw
Bales of straw are disinfected by exposure to
direct sun light and spraying with 10 %
formaldehyde
c- After disinfection, open the windows or inlets
ventilation for about 12 hours, so the building
within 24 hours become very cleaned.
2- Chicks allowed entering

After entrance of chicks, no personal

allowance for entering the site. Chicks must be
bought from known source to ensure the
chicks are free from causative agents of
diseases
3- Stirring of bedding
By attendants using a forks
4- Medication and vaccination
a- The flock should be vaccinated at the proper time
against all diseases to avoid any outbreaks
b- Add to water a broad spectrum antibiotic in the
first week as a prophylactic
c- Appearance of any disease, in case curable
(isolated and treated) while in case incurable
disease (close the building and destroy all birds
hygienically)
Control of ammonia:
• The dropping reacts with the bedding leading to
the libration of ammonia which leads to irritation
of mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract of
the bird
• Ammonia acts as disinfectant against coccidial cyst.

• If ammonia is too great, it must be controlled by

sprinkling slacked lime which absorbed ammonia.
Advantages of deep litter system
• Protect for birds and eggs from wild animals, flying birds
and rodents
• Litter is used as a source of food supply, it is known that
deep litter contains (animal protein factors) and some
vitamins such as riboflavin; the combination of the two is
necessary for good hatchability and early growth of the
chicken.
• Diseases control: it was found that the level of coccidiosis
and worm infestation are much lower on deep litter
• Labor saving
Valuable fertilizer:
• Each 1000 laying hen on deep litter can produce
about 70 ton of valuable fertilizer per year
• Its value is about 3 times more than that of cattle
• It contains about 3% nitrogen (20% protein) 2%
phosphorous
• The litter aids in control of temperature in summer
and winter
• Early maturity of male and females. Eggs are
produced after 123 days, and male give a sperm
after 63 day.
Disadvantage of the deep litter system
• High cost.
• Need more sanitation
• Heavy uses of straw as bedding; 15-25 ton per
1000 birds used annually.
• in case of the appearance of any contagious
disease, destruction of all birds is of great
importance
2- Slatted floor system
• The slatted or wire floored system represents
the most suitable system for housing of
breeder, at density as low as 0.09 m2 per
bird
• the floors are built either of slates or wire
mesh
• the distance between floor and ground is 90
cm, this area allows a year built up of dung
• the slates or wire are made in sections that
easily removed to allow mechanical disposal
of dung
• Slats are usually 3 cm width and 2.5 cm
gap in between.
• Wire floors are of 7.5 x 2.5 cm
• Various layout of nest boxes are used, a
good arrangement is a 10 meter house
with central passage way 1.2 meter and
nests in one or two tiers are placed on
each side
• Houses taking up to 5,000 birds

are quite common, but should be

divided into units by simple wire

partitions of not more than 500.

Advantage of slated floor system

• no problems of caked and wet litter

• no problems of parasitic infestation

• labor needs and housing cost are low

• Clean egg production.

3- Battery system:
• The system is mostly used for layer
• The total floor available per bird may be not
more than 0.06 m2
• The maintenance of birds in cages 3-4 high
• The whole structure should be metal as to
minimize the risk of parasitic infestation
and to easing through cleaning and
disinfection.
• The need for perfect environmental
control is acute for such system rather
than others
• The house of laying cages should be well
ventilated and lighted
• The house should be well drained and
the RH of the inside must be at about
50%
Advantage of battery system
• The litter problem is avoided
• Losses from cannibalism are avoided
• There are fewer dirty eggs
Disadvantage of battery system
• The initial cost of building and cages is
relatively high
• The cost of replacement is high
• There are more cracked eggs
Procedures for investigation of health problems in
poultry houses
1- First impression on entering house:
• High temperature in summer indicates
insufficient ventilation
• In cold weather, damp litter and smell of ammonia
indicate low ventilation rate
• Draughts and uneven temperature may be noted
in a careful walk down the length of the house
2- Stock distribution:
• The position of the birds when kept on the
floor should be observed immediately the
house entered and before they are disturbed
• Bad distribution indicates uneven
temperature, ventilation or lighting
• In sickness, birds tend to huddle in groups and
this is sometimes the first sign of an outbreak
of disease.
3- Temperature:
• It should be noted weather the
temperature in the building is within
the accepted range for the type of
birds being examined
• For intensive poultry house air
temperature should be 33.5Cfor day
old chicks, 21.1C for broiler and may
reach 10-12.8 C for adult.
4- Ventilation:
• With mechanical ventilation, the fan capacity
should be checked to see if it is sufficient for
the birds housed ( 3.7 m3/hr/kg body weight
for broiler and twice that figure for layer)
• Check that fans are all speed controlled, note
position and the position of thermostats remote
from air inlet
• Thermostats should be associated with not
more than 2/3 of the fan
• Use of one thermostats connected
with all fans and without speed
controls is considered mistake
• examine fans to see that they are
correctly mounted in ducts
• Natural ventilation , check that the
air outlet is sufficient
5- Air inlet:
Many errors are common in inlet design
such as
• Poor distribution of inlet
• Insufficient control
• Bad design giving direct down draughts
• Insufficient inlet area
• Sitting of inlets too closed to the ceiling
6- Construction:
• Condensation on surface is a common faults that
indicates either bad insulation, bad ventilation or
both
• Another fault is poor fitting of doors, windows
and ventilators, giving rise to draughts
7- Floor and litter
• Caked and wet litter usually indicates poor
ventilation but may also be associated with damp
under floor conditions
8- Light
• Observe weather the distribution of light in the
house natural or artificial, is of even intensity.
• Lighting points should not more than about 4.5 m a
part and usually better at 3 meter intervals
9- Space heating:
• A good brooder or broiler house should means space
heating or brooding giving maximum out put 3900
kcal per 100 m2 of the floor area
10- Sitting of the building:
• Houses in particularly exposed
positions often suffer from the
effect of high winds
• In this case special measures may
be needed to control their effects
by placing baffles over inlets
 Commercial hatcheries
• Size of the hatchery should be determined by
their capacities, number of eggs to be set each
week, and number of chicks to be hatched per
week.
• The hatchery must be provided with a shower
room for all workers entering the premises to
shower and change into clean clothing.
• Hatcheries should be designed as to provide
one way flow of egg- chick, eggs and chicks
should flow through the hatchery from one
room to the next one required in the hatching
process with no backtracking.
• Delivered eggs must enter the hatchery
through the door of the fumigation room,
while hatched day-old chicks are delivered in
chick boxes by the hatchery employees to the
truck delivery door where they should be taken
and loaded by the driver.
Site selection:
• Hatchery should be sited at least 150 m away from
the poultry houses.
• The area of the hatchery should be completely
separated with its own entrance and exit.
• Hatchery should be supplied with water and
electricity.
• Hatchery should be provided with a road access for
loading trucks.
• The area around hatchery should be properly
Building construction:
Floor:
• Floor must be made of concrete with a glazed
finish, sloped 2.5 cm in 3 m toward the
trapped drain or covered gutter.
• The width of both the incubator and Hatcher
rooms could be calculated by the knowledge
of the type and capacity
Wall:

• The interior of the hatchery should be made from a

fireproof, easily cleaned and disinfected material;
concrete block could be used with a glazed finish.

• Double swinging doors are usually constructed with

a height of 2.4 m and at least 1.2 wide; much wider
doors could be needed to cope with larger
equipments.
Roof:
• Any well insulated roof type could be used with a
height of 3.1 m away from the floor; waterproof
pressed wood might be used in roof construction.
Ventilation:
• Each room of the hatchery should have its separate
ventilation to supply each compartment with its
special requirements and also to prevent re-
circulation of exhausted air within different units.
• The whole building is environmentally controlled
using either positive or negative well designed and
constructed ventilation systems, all fans should be
thermostatically controlled.
• Thermostatically controlled heating and cooling
units should be installed to the ventilating system to
provide the exact requirements for the incubated
eggs.
• Temperature in the setter (1- 18 days) should be
kept at the range of 37.5- 37.8 C,
• while in the Hatcher (18- 21 days) the
temperature should be 36.9- 37.5 and a
relative humidity of 60%. Carbon dioxide
level must not increase over 0.4 per cent
and oxygen must be at least 17.5%.
• Incubated eggs must be set with their
large end up in the flat trays and must be
turned hourly through 45 degrees to
vertical. No turning is necessary in the
hatching compartment.