How To Create Conditions And Maintain A Mini Chicken Farm In The Country (part 1)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

In my youth, as a student, I traveled around the country as part of construction teams. We were engaged in a variety of buildings, including poultry houses. I especially remember the chicken coop that we built in the Kostroma region. And first of all, the local zootechnician burst into memory. His poultry farm (including chicken) was established in such an exemplary manner that, despite the difficult working conditions in the then command-administrative system, his poultry farm brought income. And this is a very, very important factor.

After all, since ancient times, the bulk of chickens in Russia were kept in peasant farms. There could be no question of any income, since these were completely outbred birds, kept in extremely primitive conditions. With the onset of the warm season, they were on the grazing: they were released into the yard and, rummaging in the garbage, they collected everything that was edible. And only with the onset of cold weather they were fed with grain of cultivated plants.

Such a content inevitably led to the fact that the chickens were light in weight, and their meat was tough and dry, and, therefore, poorly nutritious. And then the chickens rushed very badly: 50-70 eggs per year, and only in spring and summer.

Such a disdainful attitude towards the chicken tribe is not accidentally reflected in folk proverbs and sayings, for example: “The chicken is not a bird, and the cancer is not a fish”, “The chicken is not a bird, and Bulgaria is not abroad”, “Chickens to graze - you cannot find good”, A chicken is not a bird, a bummer is not a man, a chatterbox is not a master. " Or: "Chickens scream on the roost - to a domestic quarrel" …

This was until in the 30s of the twentieth century large poultry farms were created in our country, on which various breeds of chicken, egg, meat and egg and meat directions.

However, summer residents for the most part still often keep mostly mongrel chickens in the courtyard. Moreover, birds huddle (especially in winter) somewhere in the backyard in an unsuitable room, where they are both cold and hungry. So it turns out, as in another well-known saying: "What care, such is the offspring." That is, chickens are laid infrequently and mainly only in spring with the arrival of heat and in summer.

But even at very low costs: with proper care and proper feeding, the egg production of chickens can be significantly increased. That's what we'll talk about …

Chicken "flats"

Almost any room can be adapted to keep chickens or other poultry in summer cottages. With an indispensable condition: to make it comfortable for living creatures. But whatever the chicken coop is, it is necessary to take into account the stocking density of chickens per 1 m² of floor. And it is as follows: for birds of the egg-bearing direction - 5-6 heads; meat and egg - 4-5 heads. Overconsolidation leads to dampness, dirt, malnutrition and, as a result, disease.

For the construction of a new poultry house, it is very convenient to use materials at hand, for example: hew, slab, substandard boards. And as a heater, you can use sawdust, slag, mineral wool, but best of all - modern thermal insulation materials. Joints can be quickly and reliably sealed with polyurethane foam.

Birds feel much worse in stone, brick, cinder block, concrete rooms, since they are damp and cold.

Figure 1: 1. The foundation. 2. Base. 3. Lazy.

4. Exhaust pipe. Practice shows that the

most optimal chicken coop is shown in Figure 1. It is not difficult to build it even on a small area … To do this, first, a trench about 30x30 centimeters in size is dug around the perimeter under the

foundation. It is covered with any suitable materials: small stones, gravel, rubble, concrete chips, scrap metal. All this is poured with concrete at the rate of 1 part of cement to 3 parts of sand.

When the foundation hardens, a basement is laid on it

one brick wide, 15-20 centimeters high (it is advisable to use silicate). A wooden frame is installed on a brick base. A layer of waterproofing is placed between the lower frame of the frame and the base of the basement. This measure protects the bottom of the timber frame from rapid decay. You can use any waterproofing material, up to folded in several layers of polyethylene film.

Chicken coop framemade from bars with a diameter of 12-15 centimeters. The height of the room is 3-3.5 meters, of which 1.3-1.5 meters are in the attic. For sheathing of the frame from the outside, we use a board and a slab. Inside the frame, it is advisable to sheathe a clapboard or shunt board. The wall thickness of the frame is at least 15 centimeters. It must be remembered that mice and rats will certainly appear in the chicken coop (where there is food). In order to protect against them, the bottom of the wooden frame from the outside must be upholstered with iron sheets. The height of such protection from the base is not less than 20 centimeters.

The roofmost often they make a gable. The rafters from above are sheathed with edged boards, including unplaned ones. And although even in recent Soviet times it was recommended to use exclusively slate for the roof, I think that this is yesterday. In current conditions, the most optimal roofing material for a chicken coop is ondulin.

For air exchange through the ceiling and roof, an

exhaust pipe with a diameter of 15x15 or 20x20 centimeters is required. The pipe needs a valve that allows you to regulate the air exchange temperature of the hen house.

The height of the

double-glazed windows is 80-100 centimeters, the width is 100 centimeters. There must be a window leaf.

Poultry floorcan be anything: earthen, adobe, concrete. The most practical floor, however, is a densely knit boardwalk.

Figure 2: 1. Room for inventory and feed.

2. Room for chickens. 3. Insulation. 4. Lazy.

5. Roosts. 6. Manure tray. 7. Feeders.

8. Feeder for gravel and mineral feed. 9. Drinking bowl. One of the options for the

internal layout of the chicken coop is shown in Figure 2.

Feeders (Figure 2, position 7) are located in the middle of the room so that there is no crush during feeding, and the hens can freely approach them from all sides. And so that the stronger individuals do not push back the weak, it is necessary to install a sufficient number of feeders.

Figure 4 It is better to load feeders no more than a third of the depth, otherwise there will be significant losses of feed due to scattering by birds. In addition, so that the chickens do not climb into the feeders, do not trample or stain the feed, a bar is tightly fixed on to

(Figure 4). The bar also serves as a handle.

It is convenient to feed both dry and wet food in such feeders. Rational installation of feeders significantly reduces feed waste. For example, if they are located close to drinkers, feed losses inevitably increase.

For gravel and mineral feed,

feeders with several compartments are used (Figure 2, position 8).

Drinking bowls(Figure 2, position 9) can serve as basins, buckets and other shallow containers, which are installed against the wall on wooden supports no more than 50 centimeters high. That is, at such a height that the chickens can easily jump on them. The stand is needed so that the birds, rummaging in the litter, do not rake garbage into the drinker, thereby contaminating it. Drinkers should always have water. It is impossible to give snow to chickens instead of water, as they can catch a cold.

To prevent the water from freezing in the cold, you need to use an electric heater. Although there are simpler ways for this purpose. For example, wrapping a drinking bowl with any available thermal insulation material. You can put on water (this is especially effective in a round container) a wooden circle slightly smaller than the diameter of the container. Floating in a container, the circle prevents the water from freezing. It is necessary to make 3-4 round holes in it through which the birds will drink water.

Particular attention should be paid to the construction of perches and nests. And here's why … The

roost (Figure 2, position 5) is the most important part of the chicken existence. Chickens spend half their lives on it. And whether it is convenient for birds directly depends on their productivity.

On thin or too thick poles in order not to fall, chickens sit, clasping them tenaciously with their fingers. The legs get tired from constant tension and, flying off the perch to the floor, the birds do not move for a long time due to swollen limbs. In order to avoid such troubles, it is advisable to make perches not round, but rectangular with a section of 4x6 centimeters. Although in this case there are different opinions.

One chicken needs at least 20-25 centimeters of roost, and they are located at a distance of 35-40 centimeters from each other. Moreover, all perches should be located on the side opposite to the window. And by no means a ladder, only at the same level. Otherwise, all chickens will strive to fly to the topmost perch.

Laz(Figure 2, position 4) for the bird to leave the room, it is advisable to arrange it on its southern side, at a height of 5-8 centimeters from the floor. Manhole dimensions: width 30, height 30-40 centimeters. Outside, you can arrange a small vestibule to keep warm and protect the room from the wind. When keeping chickens on a deep litter (for more details, see the section "Caring for chickens"), the height of the manhole should be increased by 20-40 centimeters.

A special pallet (box) is used to collect the dropping

(Figure 2, position 6). Timely collection of droppings is, first of all, hygiene, which significantly affects the health of chickens. A metal pallet is very convenient. However, it is too heavy (although much depends on the design), so most often a wooden box covered with a fine-mesh metal mesh is used instead.

Figure 3: 1. 2. Pallet for droppings.

3. Nests. 4. Base of the floor. Certain rules must be followed when constructing

nests (Figure 3). For every 10 chickens in winter, you need to have 2-3, in summer - 3-4 nests. They must be arranged at the side walls at a height of 40-50 centimeters from the floor. They make nests from boards or plywood.

The nests are located in a darkened place. If there is none, they darken it with a curtain so that the chicken feels calm there. Nests should be easily accessible for inspection, egg collection and cleaning. The dimensions of the nests are 30-35x35-40 centimeters. They should always have clean, dry bedding. Each layer has its own favorite nest, in which it strives to lay eggs. In addition to the described inventory and equipment, to keep the chicken coop in proper form, it is necessary to have a chest for feed, buckets, brooms, rakes, forks for cleaning and leveling the bedding.

To be continued by

Ivan Zaitsev

Photo by Olga Rubtsova