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MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVES
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Poultry Your Way
MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES
TRADITIONAL: CONFINEMENT AND SEMI-CONFINEMENT
Old barns and outbuildings may be retrofitted by adding utilities,
feeding stations, nesting boxes, roosts, vents, lights, and heat. Minnesota
grower Alvin Schlangen, for instance, converted his ten-year-old 48 ft
by 368 ft high-rise style barn (originally built to contain 80,000 caged
layers under contract with an integrator) to a multilevel house for 6,000
layers. He lined the walls with a poly-type plastic to improve insulating
capacity. He also covered the plywood floor beneath feeding stations
with plastic to protect against rot. Alvin cut several side openings
in the barn to give birds yard access between May and October. The
barn is also equipped with two 24-inch exhaust fans, a 500,000 btu
corn-burning furnace, and overhead fluorescent lighting. Alvin added
standard galvanized nesting boxes (ten spaces per box), floor panfeeders,
and a nipple watering system. He uses natural convection
cooling in summer months to reduce energy demand.
Nesting boxes in Schlangen retrofitted barn.
For more information, including traditional poultry housing designs, see Small Scale Poultry Housing by the
Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, How to Build Animal Housing by Carol Ekarius, and Renovating and
Retrofitting Older Broiler Houses from Auburn University. The Ekarius publication, though geared toward
industrial managers, has some good tips and diagrams to help with the installation of insulation and ventilation
equipment in older barns (see Resources under Housing).
Feed and Water. Birds raised indoors must be fed a complete ration with protein levels appropriate for their
species and age. Traditional growers often use medicated feed to help control disease and illness among their
flocks. Feeders are filled daily and fresh water supplied continuously.
Equipment and Supplies. As a traditional manager, you’ll need some or all of the following equipment: fans;
heaters; brooder stoves; hanging plastic or galvanized metal feeders; nipple waterers, founts or plastic jugs; garden
hoses; nesting boxes; roosts; and egg collection crates.
Much of this equipment is available automated or nonautomated. Automated feeders, waterers and egg collection
equipment can make work much easier. However, automated equipment is geared toward larger flock owners —
those who manage several thousand birds or more. Schlangen and Wisconsin grower Dean Dickel both say they
have had trouble finding automated equipment geared small enough for their 4,000- to 6,000-bird operations
(personal communication, 2004). “It’s real tough to automate these buildings in Wisconsin,” said Dickel. “With
98 percent of the laying in this country done in cages, you’re kind of on your own if you want to do things
differently” (see Farm Profile: “Traditional” Doesn’t Mean “Old-fashioned” on Dickel Farm).
If you plan to manage a smaller flock, nonautomated equipment may make the most sense practically and
financially. Ekarius includes excellent construction plans for homemade nesting boxes, roosts, and feeding
troughs in her book, How to Build Animal Housing, as does Leonard Mercia in Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry
(see Resources under Housing).
Health and Welfare. The most common health concern for traditional growers is disease. Generally,
predators are not an issue because birds are confined indoors. Disease, however, can spread quickly from one
bird to another or from rodents. Traditional managers use a variety of disease-prevention measures including
medicated feed and vaccinations. Growers may further control disease by maintaining “closed” flocks. Ekarius
notes that by dividing a barn into two “rooms,” growers can further limit the spread of disease by rearing birds of
different ages separately. Rodents are discouraged through brush control (keeping the area around the barn clear
of weeds), raised floors (1 ft off ground), tight feed storage, and traps.