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Videos showing poultry houses and chicken houses for small chicken farmers - these structures are all built in South Africa and are fully welded structures. The chicken coops are supplied with all the equipment you need to run a chicken farm - whether that be for broiler chickens or layer chickens. The steel structures come in various sizes depending on how many chickens you wish to farm with, and depending on whether it is a layer house (farming with eggs) or a broiler house (farming for meat). The video of chicken house shows a broiler house which the co-op raised through a government grant for small farmers.
You can see these chicken houses on location at different places in and around South Africa. You will have to get the farmers permission if you want to go onto the property - and if you have been on another chicken farm in the last 24 hours you should not enter another - this helps prevent the spread of disease. When ever you enter a chicken house you should be given a pair of gumboots and overalls - you must walks through the foot bath - when entering and exiting a chicken house. On larger farms, if you are lucky enough to be allowed in - you will be required to shower before and after going into the poultry house, and sometimes when you go onto the chicken farm.
- Sifonondile - Yellow door broiler house
- Manamakgoteng - Yellow door Layer house
- Letsitele - Yellow door layer house
- Nkomo Giyani - 2 layer houses 3m x 12m
- Ixopo Natal - Broiler house
- Nkandla - layer house
- Nkandla - Ntikiza - broiler house
- Elliot - 2 Broiler houses 18mx 6m
- Lethlabile - Maboloko18m x 3m broiler houses
- Lethlabile - Madinyane 2 Broiler houses
- Polokwane - Motihatsweng - Broiler House
- Pietermaritzburg - Yellow door House
- Brits - 2 yellow door broiler house
- Maubane Northwest - Poultry House
- Sibasa - Chicken house for broiler chickens
- De Kroon Brits - Layer house for egg production
- Shayadima Venda - 18m x 3m Broiler House
- Mmametlhake (Bele Bele) - 9m x 3m broiler house
- Grootvlei Mpumalanga - 30m x 6m broiler house
Video of a small farmer poultry unit
This house is a broiler house for 405 broiler chickens - it is a 9 meter x 3 meter chicken house and is fully equipped to manage and produce 400 chickens over a period of 6 weeks. It was built for a co-operative of 8 people who applied for a government grant - the grant covered the chicken coop, the chickens, the chicken feed and the medication required for the first 6 week cycle.
The day old chickens will be placed, after the shavings have been placed in the structure (also supplied by government). The gas brooder will keep the house warmed at a temperature of 34° Celsius. The curtains will remain closed for the first week - after which the heaters will be removed from the house and the curtains opened to suit the weather conditions where the poultry farm is. The chickens will be fed using tube feeders and will be given water with the automatic bell drinkers - fed water from the water tank on the roof. The day old chicks will need booster packs - or stress packs and will need to be medicated during the period.
After 5 - 6 weeks the chickens will have reached their optimum weight and will be ready to be sent for slaughter. The farmer will have had to have found a buyer long before this stage as every day the chickens stay over the period will cost the farmer. Once the broilers have been captured and sent for slaughter the farmer will begin all over again. He will have to scape up the litter (the shavings that are now soaked with dung) and will have to clean the poultry house thoroughly - this means using a high pressure sprayer to clean every nook and cranny in the structure. All the bell drinkers and tube feeders need to be taken out and cleaned with a strong detergent or disinfectant. The house will then stand for a week until it is dry. After this the curtains need to be winched up and the house left for a week. When this is all done the new shavings are placed and the house pre-heated in anticipation of the next batch of day old chickens.
The video of chicken house is of a broiler house (we can make in just about any size) funded through a government grant for small farmers - chicken farming is well supported through the food security program - as well as vegetable farming programs amongst others. You will need to prepare a well thought out business plan - anything that you forget to include will not be paid for - and sometimes items you have asked for are also not included - go slowly and tick all the boxes before you put in you application.
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I want to start a poultry farming business - where do I start?
The first descion to make is the type of chicken farming you want to do. Do you want to farm with chickens that lay eggs, (layers), or do you want to grow chickens to sell for their meat (broilers). While there are many similarities between these types of farming, they are very different. They require different types of poultry equipment and chicken farming methods. They also need different types of chicken houses. How much space do you have? - How many chickens do you want to farm with? How much money have you raised or borrowed? These question need to be answered before you start poultry farming.
Egg farming with laying hens
In this kind of chicken farming the aim is to keep hens, and collect the eggs that they lay. A hen will lay an egg every day when they are in peak production. Through the egg laying cycle (about 60 weeks) the hen will average about 0.9 eggs per day. The hens will be kept in layer cages, or battery cages - or in the case of free range eggs or organic eggs, the hens will live in a chicken house but have access to an outside range.
Chicken farming with broilers
Broiler chicken farming is raising chickens from day old chicks to 6 weeks old. After this time the chickens will be sold to a slaughter house for consumption. The growing period varies from 4 - 6 weeks depending on the end weight your customer will want the birds to be. The chickens will live on the floor of the chicken house and will be fed and watered with feeders and drinkers.
What next?
How many chickens do you want to farm with? How much space do you have on your farm? Are you allowed to farm chickens in your area? These are some of the questions you will need to find answers to.
Intensive chicken farming
Broiler chickens - About 15 chickens per square meter (birds live on the floor)
Layer chickens - About 12 chickens per square meter (birds live in cages)
You will need to think about a place to keep feed - larger farms use silos to keep the chicken food in, smaller farms have a store room where they keep bags of chicken feed. Find a feed supplier near you, and a supplier of day olds or layers depending on your farming type.Egg farmers will need to think about grading and weighing the eggs every day.
Look for customers - eggs will need to be collected every day and you will need refrigeration if you plan to stock pile the eggs - or you will need to sell your crop everyday. Broiler will need to be sold at the end of the cycle - everyday you keep the chickens past their sell weight will eat into your profits. If you have a crop of 2000 broilers you need to have a buyer before you even start.
You will need water, good water on your chicken farm. Electricity, while not absolutely critical, is very helpful. Using lights in your chicken house will help with increasing production in both egg farming and broiler farming.
Broiler farmers will need heaters in the houses. Both types of farming will need drinking equipment and feeding equipment. There are many different solutions, depending on how many chickens you are farming with and how much money you have. If you have unlimited budget then you will want automatic equipment - both feeding and drinking. This will save time and labour and leave you more time and money to concentrate on other aspects of your poultry operation.
Business plan and funding
A good business plan will be invaluable - and if you plan to raise capital, whether that is through a government grant, or bank loan. A poultry business plan will force you to think through all the variables and possibilities. These decisions need to be made upfront - chickens wait for no-one and you can't stop halfway through to fix a problem. Government grants are generally given to groups of people - while this may spread the burden it does bring it's own problems. Make sure you are very clear about what you want and need when you apply - the department of agriculture, strange as it may seem, knows little about chicken farming, and tend to buy on your behalf, often with unsuitable results. Make sure you specift a cement slab, poultry fans and heaters. Make sure that a borehole and water tank, electricity and connection are all included. Your ground will need to be level when you build your house - the poultry house builders will not do it for you - so if your farm is on a slope - include grading and levelling in your loan application. Government grants also include your first cycle of day old chickens or layers. Remember you will need medication and innoculations for the birds - you will need food - and when they supply they bring it all at once - make sure you have storage space - rat proof and bird proof storage rooms.