Sizing: 8 m wide, length according to the flock at 5 per m² in the hot period, height, orientation
Sizing means going from a number of chickens to metres: how wide, how long, how high. Whoever builds “a big house” without calculating ends up either with a half-empty shed he paid for in full, or with an overcrowded box where the chickens die in March. This lesson gives the method: the flock fixes the floor area, the hot-period density fixes the area per bird, the 8 m width fixes the length, and ventilation fixes the heights. Worked example from start to finish for 1,600 broilers, then for your own figures.
13 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006This lesson is part of Designing and building a poultry house specialisation. It opens to every registered student, from free registration. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
Sizing means going from a number of chickens to metres: how wide, how long, how high. Whoever builds “a big house” without calculating ends up either with a half-empty shed he paid for in full, or with an overcrowded box where the chickens die in March. This lesson gives the method: the flock fixes the floor area, the hot-period density fixes the area per bird, the 8 m width fixes the length, and ventilation fixes the heights. Worked example from start to finish for 1,600 broilers, then for your own figures.
- ✓Calculate the usable floor area and the length of an 8 m wide house from the flock size, at 5 per m² in the hot period
- ✓Justify the 8 m width, the heights under the eave and at the ridge, and the roof slope, then check the opening ratio
- ✓Choose the orientation and the maximum length, and know when to split into two houses
- ✓Write the dimension sheet of a house, ready to hand to the mason and the carpenter
- Sizing starts from the chicken, not from the plot
- From flock to floor area: the hot-period density
- Why 8 m wide, and not 10 or 12
- Heights and slope: the volume of air that protects
- Orientation, maximum length and multiple houses
- Going further
- •Flock ÷ 5 (hot period, NEXTEKCI advice; manufacturers 8 to 10 in closed houses) = usable area; area ÷ 8 = length: 1,600 broilers → 320 m² → 8 × 40 m.
- •Width 8 m (10 maximum): the air crosses, the equipment fits, the frame stays simple; you lengthen, you do not widen.
- •Eave 2.5 to 3 m (retained 2.8), slope 30 to 35%, ridge 4 to 4.5 m (retained 4.2 = 2.8 + 4 × 0.35), low wall 0.5 m, overhang 1 to 1.25 m, ridge vent 0.3 to 0.5 m.
- •Opening ratio ≥ 40-50%: 2 × 40 × 2.3 = 184 m² for 320 m² of floor, i.e. 57.5%.
- •East-west, 50 m long at most, partial divider beyond 40 m, two houses 16-20 m apart beyond 2,500 broilers.