Poultry Your Way - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems ...

MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES
INDUSTRIAL: CONFINEMENT
Brooder houses. Most contract broiler growers are expected to brood
and rear their birds. The same barn is used for brooding and grow-out
of broiler chickens, since the short grow-out period does not justify
the use of separate facilities. An average flock of between 20,000 to
25,000 birds is typically housed in a 16,000 to 20,000 square foot
barn. The chicks are usually brooded in small “rings” and given access
to the entire house after two to three weeks of age. An all-in-all-out
biosecurity system is used.
Turkeys are almost always sexed. Males and females are brooded
separately and grown-out separately. This method is more practical
with the longer grow-out period. To minimize health risks, brooders
are reared and housed separately from the more mature grow-out
birds (young birds are susceptible to pathogens carried by older
birds). Housing construction is similar for both brooding and growout.
Industrial houses or barns are usually built new on hard ground
or cement pads, insulated, and equipped with automated feeding,
lighting, and ventilation systems.
Turkey chicks in brooder house on Bussis Farm.
Houses may contain windows and must be well insulated to help regulate indoor temperatures throughout the
year. Automated and natural ventilation systems also aid in climate control. Many turkey growers provide natural
ventilation through the use of curtains that can be raised and lowered to allow in fresh air (see Farm Profile: How
Cooperation Saved Turkey Farms from Death by Dis-integration). End curtains or doors must be wide enough
to accommodate a skid steer loader or tractor for litter removal. Broiler houses tend to use more mechanical
ventilation, often tunnel ventilation, and are thus more likely to be windowless. The house floor is always covered
with a litter; in the Midwest this is usually wood shavings. Birds are allowed to move around freely in the barn
(cages are used only for laying hens).
Turkey poults are always raised in houses that are separate from adult bird houses. One resource suggests
constructing brooder barns a minimum of one-half to one mile away from the adult grow-out barns to minimize
health risks (see Health and Welfare below). Inside the brooder houses, poults are placed in brooder rings with
stoves for the first week and closely monitored. For the remainder of the brooding phase (one to six weeks),
these young birds are given approximately one to one-and-a-half square feet each of floor space. They may
continue to need supplemental heat, depending on the time of year and your building’s climate control system.
Once birds are past the brooder stage, they are moved to grow-out houses.
Grow-out houses. Stocking rates and equipment are typically the only things that distinguish industrial-style
brooder turkey houses from turkey grow-out houses. The basic structure is the same and utilizes a combination
of unrestricted natural and artificial lighting; windows and natural ventilation to control moisture, dust, and
temperature; and litter.
Hens and toms are raised in separate grow-out houses to accommodate their different growth rates and feed
needs. During the grow-out phase, toms require a minimum of 3.5 square feet per bird while hens need a little
less: 2.5 square feet per bird. This means that a 25,000 square foot house will accommodate 7,000 toms and
10,000 turkey hens.
Poultry Your Way 47
MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVES