Broiler farming is the most common area of ​​chicken farming. Such birds are unpretentious, grow quickly at home, and are also highly productive. One of the most important aspects for raising chickens is the preparation and organization of the poultry house. You can build it with your own hands, but it is important to follow the construction technology. This allows you to save your budget and also take into account all the necessary factors for maintenance. In this article we will look at how to build a chicken coop for broilers on our own, and what to pay attention to during this process.

Features of a chicken coop for broilers

Broiler chickens have productivity distinctive features. This is important to consider not only for breeding and keeping these birds, but also when building a chicken coop. Specifics of the broiler house:

• Birds require little space, since in large areas they become overly voracious and gain fat. must be small in size;
• constant lighting is necessary for birds to grow and develop harmoniously. If you use, they will not only keep the light on, but also additionally heat the room;
• the chicken coop should be warm and well ventilated. For this purpose, heat sources should be installed and carefully considered;
• Broilers do not require space for nests, unlike laying hens, but they need to think carefully about the flooring - they spend most of their time on it. Industrial farms use cage housing.

Read about how to make nests for chickens with your own hands.

Broiler chickens are usually slaughtered after 2-3 months of keeping. Therefore, birds are usually kept in cages that are easy to clean and change.

In the chicken coop, it is necessary to think over both the foundation and the floor, which will protect the birds from attacks by small rodents and predators. It is recommended to first create a drawing of the room, which will display all the details of the future structure. The floor housing method for broilers is more suitable for small farms. Thanks to floor bedding, feed can be removed less frequently and the risk of foot damage, which often occurs when raising chickens in cages, is reduced. Poultry farmers note that this method also improves the taste of meat.

Broiler chickens are kept in special boxes - brooders, where they are provided with an optimal microclimate and feeding regime. They are located away from adult birds so as not to disturb peace and rest.

Microclimatic conditions

To keep birds year-round, it is necessary to carefully plan the indoor microclimate. This directly affects the health and productivity of chickens, since with a lack of heat, part of the bird’s internal energy is spent on its own warming. The room temperature should be within 5-23 o C; water and drinking bowls should not be allowed to freeze. If temperatures are too high, weight gain decreases and there is a risk of respiratory diseases.

The second important point is ventilation; in its absence, it significantly increases the risk of deadly diseases; chickens become less active and lose their appetite. In this case, drafts must not be allowed; air flow speed should not exceed 2.5 m/sec. To control air exchange, it is necessary to equip a ventilation system; the presence of a thermostat and an exhaust hood is a mandatory parameter. It is especially important to organize a forced ventilation system in regions with a hot and humid climate.

Cell lighting

The presence of light is one of the most important conditions for the microclimate in the chicken coop. Using it, you can control the speed of development and growth of poultry, and control meat productivity. Chickens need lighting for 12-14 hours a day; at night the lights can be turned off so that the birds can rest. As a source of artificial light, it is best to use fluorescent lamps or devices with conventional incandescent light bulbs. Lighting It is best mounted on the ceiling to create a diffused light that is most beneficial to poultry.

Maintaining optimal daylight hours in the coop reduces the incidence of injury, cannibalism, or pecking in birds.

Features of building a house: differences

The chicken coop should be located away from noisy roads; it is advisable to choose a site in a dry and elevated place. Shadows from nearby trees and buildings should not fall on the windows of the poultry house. It is believed that the optimal place for a poultry house is the south-eastern side of the site. The structure for broiler chickens differs from a classic chicken coop in the following ways:

• It is best to arrange cages in 2-3 tiers to save space and costs on materials. The floor and foundation must be strong to support the weight of all the birds concentrated on the racks;
• to ensure normal air circulation and fresh air flow, the total volume of the room and the height of the ceilings should be slightly increased;
• It is necessary to carefully consider the heating system and wall insulation, since broilers are prone to respiratory diseases.

If strong winds are constantly observed in the region, then it is advisable to make additional fencing or plant a hedge of climbing plants. The construction itself can be started from scratch or you can use a former utility room, properly equipping it inside and out. Read about building brooders for broilers with your own hands.

Calculations and dimensions

The volume and area of ​​the chicken coop largely depends on the size of the flock. When calculating sizes, they are guided by the following indicators: 1 m2 is comfortable for 8-10 adults or 25-30 chickens. However, to keep young animals it is necessary to build a separate cage. To save space and ease of maintenance, wooden or metal cages are placed in racks on several tiers. The last level of cells should be located no higher than 1.5 meters from the floor.

The size of the windows should be at least 1/12 of the entire area of ​​the chicken coop. The thickness of all main walls is recommended within 20-30 cm. Ventilation holes are located 20 cm from the level and floor, at the same distance from the ceiling. When planning a ventilation system, you need to take into account the electrical diagram if you plan to use special devices and a thermostat. You can read about building a chicken coop for laying hens with your own hands in.

Materials for a warm room in the country

Independent planning of construction, selection of all components and their transportation allows you to save a lot of money.

To build a broiler chicken coop with your own hands, you will need the following materials (the list may vary depending on your poultry house project):

• wooden beam measuring 100x50 and 100x100;
• materials for building walls (plywood, brick, wood or foam blocks) and insulation;
• sand-cement mixture, slag and formwork boards for foundation construction;
• bricks or foam concrete for the basement;
• crushed stone and several sheets of polystyrene foam for laying under the concrete screed;
• roofing felt, plywood for roofs;
• roofing material - tiles or slate;
• metal plates for shelving under cages;
• wooden slats for mounting sectional partitions;
• antifungal coating (antiseptic), varnish or paint for treating walls from the outside;
• fastening tools and brackets for fastening drinking bowls and feeders.

DIY construction at home: drawing

It is advisable to carry out all work in the summer - this simplifies not only the transportation of materials, but also reduces the effect of moisture on untreated materials. In addition, birds can be settled in the warm season immediately after all work is completed. After preparing all the materials and tools, you can begin constructing the building. Typical building plan:

1. It is necessary to dig a trench 30 cm wide and 40-45 cm deep to fill the foundation. After this, the formwork is installed, a layer of waterproofing and roofing felt are laid.
2. In mid-latitude climates, the foundation completely hardens within 5-7 days. It is advisable to cover it plastic film to avoid moisture ingress.
3. Brick (foam concrete) is laid on the foundation as the base part. This design allows you to avoid constant attacks by rodents and reduces the impact of soil on the walls. Just 3-5 rows are enough.
4. A fine-mesh mesh with a width of 60 cm is laid on the base part and secured with dowels.
5. Inside the foundation, you need to remove the fertile layer of soil to the depth of a spade bayonet, pour crushed stone 7-10 cm thick. Lay a sheet of foam plastic on top and pour a concrete screed.
6. The walls of the chicken coop are built from brick or foam concrete, but it is better to use a wooden frame. As a rule, it is collected directly on the ground, then transferred to a previously prepared foundation. At this stage, you need to remember about the window openings and the door.
7. If you use frame construction, sheets of insulation are placed inside the walls, which are sheathed on both sides with plywood or edged boards. The recommended insulation thickness is 5 cm.
8. The roof rafters are prepared on the ground and then mounted directly on the walls. As a rule, a regular gable roof is used, thereby avoiding the accumulation of snow. After installing the rafters, you can begin lathing and installing the roof.
9. The roof must be insulated and a layer of moisture protection must be laid. The inner side is covered with sheets of plywood.
10. It is necessary to leave space for a ventilation pipe with a diameter of 20-25 cm. Its length must be at least 2 meters. All joints must be insulated with construction foam.
11. You can start finishing and internal work. It is recommended to cover the walls inside with lime mortar and paint the outside with varnish, which increases the life of the building.

The last stage of the work is the installation of shelving for the cages, the installation of electricity and the creation of a ventilation system. For heating it is convenient to use a Buleryan stove or simple electric heating. You can make cages yourself from wooden slats or metal mesh, or buy ready-made steel structures.

It is better to delegate electrical work to a specialist to avoid mistakes, which can lead to a short circuit and fire in the chicken coop.

Video: how to properly build a broiler house with an aviary

In this video, a farmer shows a homemade chicken coop for broilers.

conclusions

1. It does not require perches in the enclosure. A proper chicken coop, barn, or pen at the dacha is small in size and lacks a walking area.
2. Chickens of this direction are kept in two-story cages (cells) or on the floor. The first option saves space in the poultry house, so it is more suitable for industrial farms.
3. When kept on the floor, the taste of the meat improves, the process of cleaning the room is simplified, these are all the differences.
4. The construction of a chicken coop for repair broilers begins with the creation of a project and drawing of the building. This allows you to avoid mistakes and use space wisely.
5. The construction of the building will not be difficult even for novice farmers. At the same time, it is important not only to comply with the construction technology, but also to take into account the peculiarities of keeping chickens, for example, their nutrition in winter and summer period.

Independent breeding of broilers should begin with creating conditions in which the birds will be comfortable. Therefore, novice breeders often have the question of how to independently build a poultry house, in which all the necessary amenities will be created for broilers.

Construction of a house for broilers

Poultry houses for keeping chickens or adults are built according to the following algorithm:

1. Pouring the foundation.
2. Construction of chicken coop walls.
3. Pouring concrete or clay concrete screed.
4. Roof installation.
5. Interior wall decoration using lime mortar. This will further protect the birds from germs.
6. Attaching perches and cages for broilers. They are relevant for large populations. One adult requires at least 30 cm of perch.

For many, building a broiler house with your own hands will be a more optimal solution compared to buying a ready-made option. By doing the construction yourself, you can save on materials costs, monitor the poultry house’s compliance with the required conditions, and accurately calculate the size of the structure in accordance with the planned livestock.

A novice farmer who has decided to build a chicken coop for the first time will find the following recommendations useful.

1. The roof of the chicken coop is insulated and protected from moisture penetration using a waterproofing film.
2. Every poultry house needs ventilation, so vents must be included in the drawings of a chicken coop for breeding broilers. The minimum permissible window size is 1/12 of the building’s base area.
3. The floor is poured with a concrete-based screed in its pure form or with the addition of clay. Before pouring, shavings, glass shards or sawdust should be poured around the perimeter of the future building to protect the chicken coop population from rodents and small predators digging underground passages.
4. Sometimes breeders want to build chicken coops for broilers in northern regions with cold climates. For such a structure, capital walls with a thickness of at least 20 cm are required.
5. For lighting inside the poultry house, professionals recommend using incandescent lamps. They are more effective than energy-saving lamps because they release additional heat into the air. Chickens also grow better if they are raised under yellow light, similar to sunlight.
6. As a useful addition in the summer, it is better to install mosquito nets on windows and vents. Small insects can get into the nostrils of chickens, which is why the latter often suffocate.
7. Holes in the walls at a distance of 15-20 cm from the floor act as an additional source of ventilation. This reduces the amount of unpleasant odors. During the winter season they are closed to maintain the required temperature inside the house.

Chicken coop requirements

A chicken coop designed for broiler breeding has a number of differences from other types of poultry houses. If you take them into account, even a novice farmer will be able to build the right type of housing for birds and equip it in accordance with veterinary requirements.

Characteristics chicken coops for raising broilers:

1. They require less space, due to which this type of chicken can be raised even in a small summer cottage.
2. Whether you're building a chicken coop from scratch or a converted barn, you need adequate lighting. If you use incandescent lamps, then in addition to lighting you can obtain partial heating of the air.
3. A broiler coop should have adequate ventilation but retain heat. For this, experts recommend using special heaters.
4. According to the key requirements for breeding birds, the feeder and drinker cannot be placed next to each other; it is better to place them in different corners.

The main difference between broilers and regular laying hens is their short life span. They are slaughtered after 2-3 months of breeding. Therefore, there is no need to create nesting sites and allocate large space for walking. Instead, it is better to install suitable cages.

Calculate the size of the chicken coop

The size of the poultry house is determined by the number of birds that the farmer plans to keep. If the chickens cannot walk freely around the yard, and the breeder wants to protect the broilers from predators, in addition to the main chicken coop, he builds a pen for the broilers with his own hands.

Correct calculations are required here to ensure that the birds have enough space.

A standard guideline for calculating the required area of ​​a chicken coop:

• Up to 10 adult individuals and up to 50 chicks live comfortably in a 1m*1m square. To save space when breeding a large number of chickens, multi-level chicken coops are made.
• The optimal height between levels is 1.5 meters.

Tools for building a chicken coop with your own hands

Quality is the main criterion when choosing materials for construction. Ignoring it will have a negative impact on the poultry house and lead to losses.

1. Depending on the climate, the walls can be made of brick, wood, sheet plywood, gas blocks, etc.
2. The foundation is built from slag, wooden formwork and a mixture of sand and cement.
3. Most drawings for a chicken coop assume the presence of dividing partitions and rafters, for which it is optimal to use wood.
4. Convenient pallets are made from metal sheets or plates.
5. Suitable roofing materials include tiles, slate, plywood or roofing felt.
6. Additional accessories: fasteners for certain parts and brackets for securing drinkers and feeders.

This sample list materials. Their final set is determined depending on the complexity of the future structure.

Raising meat-type chickens requires creating conditions for the birds under which the production yield will be maximum. A feature of broilers is intensive fattening and rapid weight gain. Therefore, a chicken coop for broilers should be maximally adapted for mass fattening of chickens up to 3–4 months.

Differences in chicken coops for broilers and layers

Broiler chickens gain maximum weight by 3–4 months, after which they are slaughtered.

Therefore, the main features of a chicken coop for broilers are as follows:

• availability of natural and artificial lighting;
• absence of drafts;
• does not require heating (when raising poultry from spring to autumn);
• mandatory ventilation;
• does not need nests;
• You may need space for cages;
• when growing in cells - the presence of a feeder and drinker in each cell;
• for outdoor cultivation - the presence of an enclosure for walking.

The chicken coop for egg-bearing birds is additionally equipped with nests, and its dimensions take into account the maintenance of small batches of chickens and adult birds.

Where to build on the site

Requirements for the location of the chicken coop on the site:

1. On the north side, the poultry house should be protected from the wind by trees or another building. Accordingly, there should be free space on the south side.
2. If the landscape is uneven, then the chicken coop is installed on a hill. In the lowlands there is increased dampness, including from groundwater, so the house will also be damp, and this is harmful for broilers.

Did you know?The ancestors of modern chickens are the Bankev chickens, which live in India. Their natural weight does not exceed 1 kg. Meat breeds bred by humans do not have the same resistance to disease as their wild ancestors, and therefore require mandatory prevention of infectious and other diseases.

Drawing up a project and calculating dimensions

First of all, you need to decide on the method of raising broilers:

• floor;
• cellular.

With a floor option for 1 sq. m place 3–4 broilers. When placing cages, the cages are installed in several tiers, and then in 1 section there can be from 10 to 30 heads. The minimum number of chickens in a cage is 10.
After determining the growing method, it is necessary to measure the site for construction and find out the maximum possible size of the future poultry house.

General requirements for the premises:

1. The roof of the poultry house should be gable. Snow does not accumulate on it, and it warms up faster from the sun.
2. The window should occupy at least 10% of the total wall area to provide sufficient natural light.
3. The insulation used to cover the walls must be moisture resistant, maintain the indoor air temperature well, and be resistant to rodents and pests.
4. When rearing in a poultry house year-round, it is advisable to equip a vestibule to limit the exposure of the flock to cold air.
5. If broilers are raised using the floor method, then you will need to equip an enclosure. It may be completed later.

Calculation of room sizes:

1. The standard cage height is 50 cm. When placing cages in 3 tiers, taking into account the minimum height from the floor of at least 60 cm, the minimum height of the poultry house is 2.1–2.5 m.
2. The width of the chicken coop for broilers is at least 2.5 m, taking into account the width of the cages.
3. The minimum vestibule size is 1.5×1.5×2.1.

If you equip a walking enclosure, then its dimensions are taken into account at the rate of: 4 broilers per 1 sq. m.

How to build a chicken coop for broilers with your own hands

The construction of a chicken coop will consist of:

• site preparation;
• foundation markings;
• performing the foundation;
• installing a chicken coop frame;
• construction of buildings (floor, walls, roof);
• insulation;
• installation of lighting, ventilation, water supply systems;
• installation of internal poultry house equipment (cages or perches, feeders, drinking bowls).

Did you know?One of the largest meat breeds- gate. Average weight of a rooster of this breed- 7 kg. But there are also individuals of 10–12 kg.

Necessary materials

A poultry house can be built from wood materials, stone or brick. Each material has both advantages and disadvantages.
I would like to note the advantages of structures made from wood materials:

• they are much cheaper than brick buildings;
• they are easier to install and dismantle.

Regardless of the material chosen, the house still needs to be insulated to create a comfortable microclimate for growing chickens. For construction you will need a variety of materials.

For the foundation:

• sand and gravel for the pillow;
• pipes and fittings for columnar foundations;
• concrete.

For the chicken coop:

• beam;
• wood boards for cladding;
• boards, slats;
• insulation;
• bitumen mastic.

Tools for work

Tools:

• shovels and for transporting materials during foundation construction;
• hammer;
• roulette;
• construction cord, pegs for marking the foundation, brackets for fastening.

Step-by-step instruction

Before you start, prepare the tools for work, materials and check the dimensions on the drawing again. Preparatory work during construction includes clearing space for the chicken coop. The site is marked with pegs and construction cord in accordance with the construction plan.

Did you know?Broilers- These are birds obtained by crossing several breed lines. Initially these were the Cornish (paternal line) and Plymouth Rock (maternal line) breeds.

A layer of soil under the foundation is removed - about 20 cm. The removed soil can be used to create flower beds or be used to fill the beds on the site.

Pouring the foundation and laying the floor

1. Preparing the foundation consists of making holes for the foundation pipes, installing these pipes and creating a cushion of gravel and sand in the pit between the installed pipes. The thickness of the gravel cushion is 20 cm. The columnar foundation is made up of pipes into which fastening fittings are inserted under the chicken coop posts. The inside of the pipes is filled with concrete. When the concrete hardens, a timber frame for the floor is secured to the reinforcement.
2. The grounding depth of the pipes is 1 m. The distance between them is at least 0.75 m. The pipe must rise above the level of the gravel-sand cushion by 0.2 m, and the reinforcement for fastening the wall posts must be at least 0.25 m.
3. To put the timber harness on the reinforcement, groove holes are drilled in it.
4. Waterproofing is laid on concrete pillars. It can be roofing felt in 2-3 layers.
5. The timber is fastened with self-tapping screws.

Construction and insulation of walls

Roof construction

The roof is made of hardwood. There are 2 options: with and without a small attic. The attic improves air exchange and helps extend the life of wooden elements. For a roof with an attic, the roof deck is made of boards or slabs. Then the ceiling beams are installed and the covering is completed.

For a roof without an attic:

• the main frame is mounted on support pillars;
• covered with boards and insulation, just like the walls.

The finished roof can be covered with slate or metal tiles. When installing the roof, you also need to install ventilation pipes. The height of the pipes is 2 m, the diameter is at least 20 cm.

Setting up a chicken coop

Internal arrangement begins with the installation of a lighting and heating system for the nursery of small chickens (brooder). For winter breeding of broilers, a heating system is installed.

The walls are treated with lime, and the wooden surfaces are painted. The window is covered with mesh. Ventilation ducts or vents should be equipped with a mosquito net, since insects are the most active carriers of pathogens.

If the birds will be kept in cages, then first form and install the racks, and then the cages. They are equipped with internal or external feeders. Install an automated water supply system. If the birds are kept without cages, then install perches, drinkers, feeders, and also equip a tray for ash baths.

Important!Plastic and materials that are not resistant to moisture should not be used for lining poultry houses. By accumulating dampness, such material will serve as a basis for the development of mold and other fungi.

A manger for chickens (brooder) with air heating to +35 °C is installed separately. The air temperature in the rest of the chicken coop should not fall below +12 °C. If the temperature is too low, the broiler will spend the energy received from the feed on maintaining body temperature rather than on growth.

Video: practical tips for arranging a chicken coop

Installation of cages

When keeping poultry in cages, it is necessary to create racks for cage sections. Cages can be ready-made, purchased, or made from mesh. The cages are placed on metal or wooden racks in several tiers.

The minimum height of the cage is 50 cm. Increasing the height will provide the birds with a large volume of fresh air, which is important for the prevention of diseases.

Feeders and drinkers

It would be optimal to place feeders on the outside of the cages on special mounts. Feeders are made from polypropylene pipes or other material. The size of the mesh cells near the feeder should be 14x14 cm - this will provide broilers with more comfortable access to food.

Important!Nipple drinkers for day-old chicks are equipped with a 3600 nipple, which can move in any direction, and for older ones - with a 1800 nipple.

An automated system with drinkers is installed on the inside of the cage. Instead, you can equip vacuum drinkers, but they will need to be installed in each cage.
Number of nipple drinkers - 1 pc. per cage of 10 broilers. The pressure throughout the water supply line must be the same.

Litter

Litter is a natural insulator that keeps the chick comfortable.

May consist of:

• straw;
• sawdust;
• husks;
• peat

Requirements for bedding are good moisture absorption, low risk of injury. The litter provides natural occupation for the bird and the implementation of natural reflexes - loosening and digging the soil. The thickness of the litter is at least 20 cm.

What else should you take care of?

To obtain the most productive indicators, it is necessary to observe the temperature, humidity and air exchange regimes in the room. To do this, artificial lighting, a ventilation system and a heating system are installed in the chicken coop.

Lighting

The lamps should illuminate the poultry house evenly. According to sanitary standards, per 1 sq. m area should account for 4 W of light. You can install regular lamps, LED or energy-saving ones. Whatever lamps you install, important indicator It will be the duration of illumination, not the type of lamps.

Ventilation

Ventilation system capacity - 6 cubic meters. m per 1 kg of live weight. Ventilation can be done in the form of supply and exhaust pipes or using a fan.

Video: ventilation in the chicken coop Anyone can build a chicken coop for broilers with their own hands. The selection of materials for construction depends on your preferences, while the quality construction material found in a fairly wide price range.

Did you know? According to research by Aviagen and Cobb, lighting color does not have any significant effect on weight gain in broilers.

Comfortable conditions for broilers will ensure high productivity of your livestock.

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Do you have broilers or are you just planning to have these birds at your dacha? In this case, you are probably interested in finding out which is the best chicken coop to build for keeping meat birds! To make it easy for you to set up a chicken coop with your own hands for broilers - photos, drawings and videos in our discussion today!

Features of the chicken coop

Most breeders prefer to make a chicken coop for their livestock with their own hands, especially if there are not many chickens and they are kept on a small plot or dacha. This significantly saves money on construction, which, naturally, is important for beginning domestic breeders. Meat and bark areas in poultry farming have their own differences, which are expressed in the requirements for living conditions. A chicken coop for broiler chickens has the following features:

• May be small in size, broilers need a minimum of space.
• Should be well lit.
• The room should be warm and well ventilated.

For broilers, many breeders choose cage housing and build so-called batteries with their own hands. Broilers in such designs gain weight well, it is easier to feed the birds in them and maintain cleanliness. Thus, a broiler coop can consist of a number of batteries in which you can place a large number of birds in a relatively small area.

The size of your poultry house can be calculated as follows: per 1 sq. m cages can accommodate 40-50 broiler chickens or 10 already grown birds. The cages are installed in several tiers; as a rule, the top cage is installed at a height of no more than 1.5-1.6 m. At this height, the structure will be convenient to maintain. Thus, the height of your chicken coop should be at least 2 m, ideally 2.5 m. Your chicken coop should be sufficiently lit, so the first thing it is recommended to do is hang electric lamps in it.

Electric lamps will also become an additional source of heat. By the way, in the cage in which you will have the smallest inhabitants, you can hang incandescent lamps right inside the structure itself, in which case the chickens will have both light and warmth at the same time.

We make it ourselves

Before you start building a chicken coop, you need to decide on the number of flocks you plan to keep. Some hobbyists breed broilers exclusively in the summer at their dacha. To do this, they make a small pen and do not bother with the construction of complex structures. Over the summer, you can raise enough chickens at your dacha and provide your family with chicken meat for the entire winter.

Tools and materials

When building a chicken coop with your own hands at the dacha, try to choose high-quality materials so that you don’t have to redo it twice. The poultry house can be built from brick, gas blocks or wood. It is preferable to make a foundation, since in this case the structure will be stronger and more durable and more protected from rodents and predators. Don’t forget about the strength of the cages that you will place in the chicken coop - each cage, when planted with 10 chickens, will have to withstand an approximate load of 25 kg. So, the materials without which you cannot make a chicken coop for broilers (assuming you are building a room from scratch):

• Material for walls: brick, cinder block, wood, adobe, gas blocks (the main material can be used, in which case you can save on construction);
• For the foundation you will need slag, sand, cement, wood for formwork;
• Roofing material (tiles, roofing felt, slate, reeds);
• Wooden beams for rafters;
• Material for wall insulation and plastering;
• Fastening materials: nails, screws, brackets.

The list of materials may vary depending on what exactly you want to do in the end. You can convert your existing outbuildings into a poultry house or attach it to your house. Some breeders make “summer” buildings, for this they simply make a wooden frame, which is sheathed with polycarbonate sheets.

Step-by-step instruction

So, first you need to decide on the size of your chicken coop and the number of cages that will be installed in them and how much space in your dacha you can allocate for a poultry house. The optimal cage size is 1 m * 0.6 m. The approximate sequence of actions is as follows:

• The first step is to build the foundation and walls (more details on how to do this are described in our other thematic articles), do not forget that the height of the chicken coop should be higher than for a laying hen coop, because it will contain cages in several rows. Avoid any gaps or holes during construction; your broilers are a desirable prey for rodents.
• A concrete screed is made for the floor; an adobe floor can also be made. Before pouring the floor with concrete, it is recommended to fill the entire area around the perimeter of the foundation with broken glass - this is another measure of protection against predators, which, as a rule, make their way to your birds through tunnels.
• Next you need to make the roof. It is advisable to insulate the roof and lay a water barrier under the roofing material. The temperature in your building will largely depend on a well-insulated roof.
• The walls of the chicken coop are insulated with foam plastic or mineral wool. If you properly insulate the walls of your poultry house and its roof, then you may not need heating inside the house. After all, heat will be generated by incandescent lamps and the birds themselves.
• A very important point is ventilation; for these purposes, it is necessary to have windows and opening vents. The area of ​​the windows should be in relation to the floor area of ​​the poultry house as 1:12. There must be mosquito nets on the windows, because the smell chicken manure insects fly in, and midges and mosquitoes can clog the nasal passages of birds, which can end very badly. In addition to windows, they also make ventilation holes - one at a level of 20-30 cm from the floor, through which an unpleasant odor will escape, and the second under the ceiling - for the flow of fresh air. In severe frosts, these holes can be covered.
• The inside of the poultry house can be plastered or lined with wood, it all depends on your skills and financial capabilities.

If you plan to keep a decent number of livestock at your dacha, then, of course, it is convenient to place broiler cages in such a chicken coop; it is not difficult to make them yourself, especially since they will last for more than one year. If you prefer traditional keeping, then you need to lay bedding on the floor of the poultry house and make perches. In this case, it would be nice if a small pen adjoins the chicken coop at the dacha. Monitor the temperature regime and try to ensure that all the cages of the poultry house are equally well lit, if there is a deficiency sunlight or ultraviolet radiation, birds can develop rickets.

When keeping cages on the top floor, it is very convenient to house the smallest birds. This is due to the fact that it will be warmer and lighter on the upper tier. Do not forget that in the place where you will have newborn chickens, the temperature should be at +35 C; when the birds reach 15 days of age, the temperature can be reduced to +18 C. In addition, you can access the cages with your own hands attach wheels and then in good sunny weather the cages with birds can be taken outside.

The main thing is that the chicken coop you make yourself is as functional as possible, so that everything in it is at hand, and the chickens feel comfortable and comfortable! So, having worked on housing for broilers once, you can raise quite a lot of generations of these birds in your own country house!

Photo gallery

Video “What a chicken coop with broilers looks like”

In the video below you can see what a do-it-yourself chicken coop with broiler cages looks like from the inside!

Broilers are the result of crossing different breeds of domestic chickens in order to obtain birds with the best meat characteristics. Their cultivation is simple and economical both in large poultry farms and at home. It is enough for the owner of a personal plot to provide his family with high-quality meat.

Design with the dimensions of a small broiler house

If we take into account that broiler chickens are usually raised in the summer, then building a room for raising them can be easy, inexpensive and can be done with your own hands. In the spring, young animals are bought, fed for 2–3 months, and when they gain weight of at least one and a half kilograms, they are used for meat. During the entire spring-summer season, you can feed two batches of broilers.

And for year-round, so-called intensive feeding, it is necessary. Chicks are purchased continuously, regardless of the time of year. But maintaining one group for more than 70 days is economically unprofitable. You will not gain weight, and the meat will lose important dietary and taste qualities. After each batch, the poultry house is thoroughly washed, the equipment is disinfected, and a new shift is moved in 10 days later.

General characteristics for keeping broilers:

• inexpensive construction, quick payback the buildings;
• controlled microclimate;
• ease of maintenance.

It is quite difficult to breed broiler chicks at home; it is easier to buy them at an early age. The most popular for private farms are ten-day-old chickens. Therefore, it is important not only to build a poultry house that meets the requirements, but also to choose the right young stock. When purchasing, you should ask the seller to present a certificate from a veterinarian about vaccinations.

When purchasing the next batch, you should pay attention to each individual so as not to buy chickens from ordinary laying hens. Broilers, or crosses as they are called in science, have an absolutely yellow color at an early age, which turns white with the appearance of plumage. And in order to select a healthy flock, each chick must:

• be mobile;
• stand firmly on your feet;
• have soft, even fluff;
• do not have dark pigment spots;
• react quickly to sound;
• press the wings tightly to the body;
• have a clean butt.

Types of poultry houses, general requirements for them

There are many ways to keep poultry broilers, but for households there are usually two types of poultry houses: floor-fed and cage-reared. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The owner of a personal plot chooses the structure that is easier to build with his own hands. Regardless of whether for floor or cage keeping, as well as seasonal or year-round use, buildings for birds must have the following parameters:

How comfortable broilers are indoors can be judged by their behavior. The chickens huddle together, huddling in groups, which means they are cold, and if they open their beaks, they breathe heavily, spreading their wings, which means they are hot. The owner must take care to bring the microclimate of the poultry house to the desired state. An indicator of this is the uniform distribution of birds over the entire area, active pecking and drinking water.

If broilers are lethargic, sneeze, drink a lot of water, and have liquid discharge from their beaks, these are clear signs of poisoning. This means that the room is not provided with good air exchange: ammonia or carbon dioxide accumulates. It is necessary to carry out urgent forced ventilation of the poultry house using electric fans.

And you should not be afraid of a general decrease in air temperature: for chickens from three weeks of age, fresh air is more important than warmth.

Lighting in the area where broilers aged 1 to 5 days are kept must be provided around the clock. This stimulates the consumption of food, which is needed for accelerated development and growth. Daylight hours are gradually reduced, and by the third week it is increased to 16 hours. The stocking density of broiler chickens is somewhat different from that of conventional laying hens.

But experienced poultry farmers claim that it can be the same for both floor and cage rearing.

It is very important to control the temperature in the poultry house depending on the age of its inhabitants. For young animals, the air should be heated to 31 degrees C for 1-2 days. Then, every three days of fattening, the heating is reduced, and for month-old chickens the temperature is brought to 19 degrees.

Keeping broilers on litter

Floor rearing of poultry primarily depends on the planned number of birds. The simplest way of such content is characterized by:

• manual distribution of food and drinking water;
• natural light;
• natural ventilation;
• the simplest walking equipment.

The construction of poultry houses for outdoor, non-walking keeping of chicks is easily accessible to every home craftsman. To do this, you will need sheet polycarbonate, a profiled pipe for the frame, two racks and a lintel for the doors, as well as equipment for feeders and drinkers. Not required for a summer building.
Inexperienced poultry farmers make the most common mistake, namely, keeping young birds on the cold floor of the poultry house.

Any building for chickens requires deep bedding, which needs to be maintained so that it is always dry, free of toxic substances and mold. The compacted compacted surface is loosened, and the dried compound is poured onto the damp places, bringing the layer to a thickness of 35 cm. If it is thicker, then the birds will not be able to dig it up completely and mold and condensation will form on it.

The bedding material has thermal insulation properties. It is used only crushed and does not contain large inclusions. It can be made from a mixture of straw, sawdust, peat with the addition of coarse sand. For summer keeping broilers, the litter can be 10 cm, and for winter it is increased to 20 cm.

Raising broilers in cages