FEATURES OF THE BEST CHICKEN HOUSE
If you decide to raise chickens in a coop in the two ways described earlier, you will need to build a coop with features that will meet the basic needs of the chickens.
An ideal chicken coop should be as follows: It should be a sturdy building.
❖ There should be no open spaces at the foundation and between the wall and the roof.
❖ The shed should be built with materials available in your environment so that it is affordable.
❖ You can use clay bricks, soil, trees, sticks, etc. If you use sticks or sticks, remove the bark to control the ants.
❖ The building will immediately prevent enemies such as rats, mice, cats, snakes and thieves from entering the coop and harming or stealing the chickens. It should be easy to clean.
❖ Walls and floors should be sealed to prevent cracks to make cleaning easier.
❖ It will also prevent insects from hiding in cracks such as spiders, fleas, etc.
❖ The floor of the shed must be covered with mulch such as rice husks or wood shavings or crop residues or dry grass depending on what is readily available in your environment.
❖ This bedding helps absorb moisture from chicken droppings or water spilled in the coop.
❖ The barn remains dry without unpleasant odors and insects such as flies and even disease pathogens are controlled.
The outside area around the shed should be kept clean at all times. A clean environment outside the shed will prevent insects such as ants and rodents and animals such as rats and wild cats from finding a place to hide. Outside the shed, inside the fence, there should be small trees and other small plants for shade.
Semi-free range
• Have enough space for the chickens present: Typically, one square meter of space is sufficient for four laying hens or eight broilers. One square meter of space is sufficient for 16 chicks up to four weeks of age.
• It should be able to let in enough air and light: A coop that can let in fresh air and out of it stays dry. Bad odors come out and the chickens can breathe fresh air. This also helps control the breeding of pathogens that cause diseases, thus controlling diseases. It should not be too hot or too cold. Plant trees around your coop so that the area has enough shade and is also not exposed to strong winds. If the actual conditions of the breeding area are very hot for long periods, the roof of the coop during construction should be raised higher to allow more air circulation and the heat of the roof (if it is tin) should be away from the chickens. The heat in the coop can be caused by the density of the chickens, so the farmer should make sure to keep the number of chickens that is consistent with the size of his coop. ROOF Should be strong and leak-proof. You can use corrugated iron, straw, cardboard, straw, etc. depending on the availability of roofing materials. When roofing, the roof should not end too close to the wall but should have a large area that extends beyond the wall to prevent rain from entering if it is windy (see diagram below).
Equipment needed in a chicken coop
Chickens raised in a semi-indoor/semi-outdoor system require various services both inside and outside the coop. To provide these services, the following equipment is essential in the coop:
There are many ways to make chicken drinking bowls.
• One type of container you can use is a ten or twenty liter plastic bucket or container. Cut the bucket into four pieces to provide a drinking place for the chicken as shown in the illustration. Make the number of containers that correspond to the number of chickens you have.
• Or you can use a fairly wide pot or basin. This is placed on a brick or clean, wide stone after adding drinking water to prevent the young chickens from drowning and to prevent the water from getting dirty easily.
• Special chicken watering equipment is available at agricultural input stores. Food Containers These containers must be well-made so that they do not become a source of food waste. When preparing chicken feed, remember that chickens have a tendency to chew.
They spread or search for food with their feet and even their mouths to get to the food on the ground. This behavior causes a lot of food to be spilled on the ground and causes losses. You can control this problem by making containers that do not allow chickens to chew as shown in the illustration below. You can make this feeder yourself or a carpenter in your area. It is advisable that the feeder be narrow so that the chickens cannot enter. It also needs to be long so that the chickens can eat without crowding each other.
NESTS
There are different types of nests that are used for nesting. There is a type that is for individual hens. The recommended dimensions for each nest are 30 centimeters wide, 30 centimeters long and 35 centimeters deep. The front should be left open. Feeder, drinker, etc. The first 10 centimeters from the bottom should be covered with a board (see illustration). Set the number of nests that is sufficient for the chickens you have. There is also another type that can be used by more than one hen at a time. It is like one nest divided into several rooms. However, each room has the same dimensions as a single nest (see image below). This type of nest is 30 centimeters wide and 35 centimeters deep and its length depends on the number of nests. The nests should be dark so that the hens are not afraid to enter and lay in them. Darkness also helps reduce the tendency of hens to eat eggs and peck at each other. The nest should be placed in a place where it is easy for the hens to enter and exit. It should also be a place that will make cleaning the nest itself easier.
Swing
Chickens naturally like to sleep or rest in elevated areas. Therefore, place enough roosting areas in the coop for the number of chickens present. …………………………………………………………
