Different Types Of Poultry Farming Equipment You Need

Introduction

If you are starting a poultry business, there are different equipment that will be required to kick your journey to becoming a successful poultry farmer. Many people are confused about how to start a poultry farm cos they don’t know what they will need to put in place to start this business.

Depending on which type of poultry bird business you decide to venture into, most times, the equipment needed is the same across the board.

So, what is the poultry farm equipment that you need on your farm?

Poultry Farming Equipment

As a beginner in poultry farming, there is some equipment that is compulsory for you to have regardless of the type of poultry and/or aspect of poultry you want to start.

In this article, I will be going through the different equipment for poultry farming.

Hatcher or Incubator

The first poultry farming equipment is a hatcher or an incubator. A hatcher is an instrument used to hatch fresh eggs laid by the birds. This type of hatchery is an unnatural way of hatching eggs and is mostly used in big farms that have lots of birds.

Most times, the birds should hatch their eggs themselves without any external support.

This equipment is not necessarily needed for all poultry farmers. Having an incubator is one way you can make money in the poultry business without going deep into raising the birds.

One thing you need to know is that the market is readily available. People are looking to buy hatched birds every now and then.            

There are different types of incubators that you can use. The most common types of incubators are tunnels, walk-in incubators, and vertical fan incubators.

You will only need an incubator or a hatcher if you will be hatching your eggs yourself and/or you want to make this another source of income on your farm.

Brooder

The second poultry farming equipment is a brooder or a heater. A brooder is an equipment that helps regulate the temperature of the pen, especially during the cold season. A heater or brooder is mostly used if you are raising your birds from day old or you will be hatching your eggs by yourself.

There are different types of brooders

• Charcoal/Kerosene Stove: This is a low-budget type of heater. It is commonly used where electricity is not always constant or there is no electricity at all. If you are using a charcoal stove, you will put the charcoal inside the stove, light it up and cover the stove with a pan. The same goes for the kerosene stove.
• Gas Brooder: A gas brooder allows you to connect gas to a heating plant that is placed above the chicks to provide heat to them.
• Infrared Bulb: This type of brooder has a self-reflecting bulb that is placed in the brooding house. The bulb comes in 150 and 250 watts that can provide heat to over 150 birds at a time.
• Reflectors/Hover: This type of brooder/heater is flat with a heating element and a pilot lamp. Sometimes the reflector comes with a thermometer that can be used to record the temperature of the room.

The reflector is mounted with a stand and not hung to the roof like other types of brooders.

Feeder

The next type of poultry farming equipment needed on a farm is the feeder. A feeder is where the birds (chicken, turkey, guinea fowl, etc) will feed. You can decide to make a feeder by yourself or you can buy from the open market.

• Linear: The first type of feeder is the linear feeder. This feeder can either be made of galvanized iron, wood, or bamboo. This type of feeder is adjustable to fit the height you wish to achieve.
• Circular: The next type of feeder is a circular feeder. Circular feeders are semi-automatic plastic-made feeders that can hold as much as 5 kilograms of feed. It can also be called a hanging feeder.

Circular feeders come in bright colors that will attract the birds so they can feed.

• Shell Grit Box: A Shell grit box is a type of feeder made of galvanized iron that serves as a source of calcium for the birds. A Shell grit box is mostly useful if you will be practicing a free-range system of poultry farming.
• Automatic Feeder: As the name implies, this type of feeder is operated automatically with the help of electricity. It is commonly used in large farms that use the battery cage system on their farm.

Using the automatic feeder, the feed is supplied to the birds using a special feed trough with an auger-type device that moves the feed from one end to another in the pen house. The height of the feeder can be adjusted to fit the size and age of the birds.

Drinker

The third type of poultry farming equipment needed to start poultry farming is a drinker.

A drinker is what the birds will use to take water and other medications. A drinker comes in different types and sizes. The choice of the drinker you want to use depends on your farm settings and the amount you are ready to spend on the equipment.

The types of drinkers available in the market. They include:

• Manual: This is a type of drinker that is commonly used in the early days of the birds. One advantage of this drinker over the other types is that it is easy to administer drugs and medications to the birds.

A manual drinker is easy to make and cost-effective.

• Pan / Jar: This type of drinker as the name implies consists of a pan and a jar. The bottom part of the drinker where the birds will be drinking from is in a pan form while where the water will be coming from is a jar.

The jar (that contains the water) will be keyed to the pan and turned upside down while the pan will be placed on the floor.

This type of drinker can be used for birds if you are practicing the deep litre system of poultry farming or you are raising the birds from 4 weeks to 12 weeks before they are transferred to the cage.

• Water Basin: The water basin type of drinker consists of a bowl and a grill. The bowl can either be plastic or wood, while the grill will be made of iron. The purpose of the grill is to prevent the birds from polluting the water.

This type of drinker is useful when you are raising the birds through the deep litre system.

• Bell Type: This type of drinker is a semi-automatic water drinker. The bell-type drinker is made of plastic in form of a bell. The drinker is hung up in the air with an adjustable valve that allows a continuous flow of water. This makes it possible for the constant availability of water in the coop 24/7.
• Nipple Drinker: This type of drinker has a nipple-like shape that the birds can peck on whenever they want to take water.

Nipple drinkers can be used if you are practicing the deep liter system or battery cage system type of poultry farming. You can use the drinker with a cup or without a cup.

Chick Box

The next poultry farming equipment is the chick box. A chick box is a place where the birds will be kept for laying eggs. The chick box comes with an egg tray attached to it. The egg tray helps control egg damage, how? When the birds lay the eggs, the eggs roll away from the box so that the birds do not peck them in the process damaging the eggs.

Egg Tray

If you are doing egg production poultry farming, an egg tray is something you need to buy. An egg tray is equipment that is used to settle the eggs.

In simple terms, an egg tray is where you arrange the eggs that the birds have produced. This is necessary so that the eggs do not break.

Ventilation Fan

A ventilation fan is a piece of poultry equipment that helps cool the farm. It is useful during hot weather conditions to minimize heat so that the birds can perform better.

Although this equipment can be quite expensive and might not be necessary especially if you are a small-scale poultry farmer.

Laying Nest

Another poultry farming equipment that you need especially if you will be doing the free-range or deep litre system is a laying nest. A laying nest helps the birds to lay eggs easily. One benefit of using a laying nest is that it increases the productivity of the eggs the birds are laying.

Cages/ Coops

The next poultry farming equipment needed is a cage or coop depending on which one you want to use. They are used to keep birds and are most used by small-scale farmers.

A cage is a built-in compartment where birds will be put. Depending on the size of the cage you wish to purchase, a unit can contain as many as 96 birds. It is usually used by farmers who practice the battery cage system of poultry farming.  

A coop is built free of obstacles that allow the birds to move freely and feed anywhere they wish to. Unlike the battery cage, a coop can contain as many birds as you want. it depends on how they are being built.

Water Pot and Drinker

Water is one of the essential things that must be put in place on the farm. Clean and well-treated water will aid the productivity of the birds.

A water pot/drinker is where water that comes from the source (well, borehole, or stream) will be stored before they are being given to the birds.

It is in this water pot that water will be treated and necessary medications and drugs will be administered through the water pot.

“One thing you must ensure is that the water pot and drinker must be washed regularly and changed when necessary”

Other poultry farming equipment:

Aside from the equipment mentioned above, there are other types of equipment that you will need on the farm that is not major. Some of the equipment that will be mentioned below will only be required if you want to expand to other aspects of the poultry business.

• Fly Tray: This is a poultry farm equipment that is installed on the farm to prevent and control flies. BUY HERE

• Rakes: This equipment is required on the farm to gather waste in the farm. BUY HERE

• Shovel: A shovel will be needed in support of the rake. It will be used to pack the waste gathered and also to pack the waste of the birds to where they will be disposed of. BUY HERE

• Sprayer: This is a hand-held instrument that will be used to disinfect the farm before the birds are brought into the farm. There are different types of sprayers that you can buy. BUY HERE

• Slaughter Slab: The next poultry equipment is required if you have a big farm and you want to be killing birds alongside raising the birds. A slaughter slab is a place where the birds will be killed.

• Dressing Machine: Another poultry farming equipment is a dressing machine. A dressing machine is equipment used to defeather the birds that have been slaughtered. Using a dressing machine help keeps the birds clean and hygienic for consumption.

• Wheelbarrows: This is another piece of equipment you need to move things around the farm. Whether it is poultry waste or poultry feed, you will need a wheelbarrow on your farm. BUY HERE

• Scale: An egg scale is another piece of farming equipment that is necessary but not important to have on the farm. The scale is used to determine the weight of the eggs. Having an idea of the weight of the eggs helps the farmer know the fertility of the eggs that want to be used for the hatchery. BUY HERE

An egg scale is useful for farms that are into hatcheries. There are different types of egg scales in the market that you can buy.

Conclusion

One of the limiting factors of poultry farming is that it is capital-intensive. If you want to start a poultry farm, the equipment mentioned is something you need to get. Some of these pieces of equipment are very important and you can run a poultry farm without this equipment.

One thing you need to know is that you can start small with what you have and expand slowly. If you go through the list above, you will get low-budget poultry farming equipment if you don’t have much money on you to start the business.

The slogan for success in any business is to Just Start. Start with what you have and with time and patience, you will surely get there.

Want to start a poultry business? Start your journey by reading the article How to Start a poultry farm.

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