Housing

General priniciples of planning

The following points should be considered before planning and designing animal houses. • It should be of attractive appearance ; minimize labour cost ; improve efficiency and resale value • First a rough plan which consists of following should be prepared. • Site plan; Floor plan ; Elevation ; Cross section ; Master plan ; Van – Dyke prints ; Blue print and orientation. • Site plan: It is used to locate the site where the buildings are to be erected. It should contain details of various building arrangement, road formation and space between buildings etc will be located. • Floor plan: It is the aerial view of the different structures to be erected within a farm building. It should contain details like dimensions of the building, location of ventilators, and doorways will be marked in the floor plan. • Elevation: The appearance and view of the whole building will be shown in the elevation.

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Cross section: It gives details of building foundation, type of flooring, walls and roof of the building. The internal fittings, partition, feeding and securing devices should be clearly shown

Master plan: The master plans are prepared in semi-transparent paper with black ink as per scale. From this mass production of plans will be made by subsequent process like blue printing.

VAN–DYKE print: These are negatives of the original drawing. Black (or) blue lines are provided on the white back ground in the negative.

Blue print: Mass production of plans are made from negatives by exposing them to sensitive blue print paper developed in water and fixed in potassium dichromate. It is used to estimate the cost and to carryout the construction work.

Orientation: In general animal sheds are located with long axis east to west the paddock side facing the north to get direct sunlight during winter and to prevent entry of direct sunlight into the shed during other seasons.

FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED WHILE DESIGNING A LIVESTOCK FARM

Different types of enterprises such as dairy, piggery, sheep and goat units need different building design. Designing for unit It is desirable to design the accommodation for a workable unit.

Structural form Shape and design of building should meet the needs of all classes of

livestock. Designing for flexibility Animal building has to be designed to meet the requirement of changing

enterprises. Shape of the roof It is designed to suit the local climatic conditions. Gable with roof

ventilators are necessary for hot condition. Monitor roof is suitable for building with smaller width.

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Standard width of buildings

• Single row cow shed - 3. 80 to 4.25 metre • Double row cow shed - 7. 90 to 8.70 metre • Poultry and others - 20 to 30 feet.

Single row system

3D picture

Double row system

3D Picture

3D picture

Standard height of the building

The standard height of the building may differ according to the roofing material and agroclimatic condition.

Length of building

It may vary depends upon the number of animals housed. Length can be determined based on the total stock to be housed within the building. eg In case of dairy 15-20 animals in single row system and 20-50 animals in double row system and above 50 animals a separate shed should be provided.

Designing the animal building for production and product control

Animal house is so designed to have control over production of product and also the quality of product.

Environmental controlled house • Recent trend in animal house is to control the bad effect of environmental

factors to provided comfort conditions to the animals. In tropical building, choice of building material and method should be employed to prevent heat radiation from sun into the building through roof, wall and surrounding ground.

• Non-conducting material with sufficient insulation will prevent various kinds of heat radiation. Comfortable air velocity, optimum humidity should be maintained in the building. These entire factors will have effect on growth, reproduction and health status of livestock.

Quality of products • High quality milk and egg can be produced only in certain type of houses,

which are specially designed for it. For example certified high quality eggs are produced only in cages with rollaway flow arrangement or in slatted floor arrangement.

• Certified high quality milk with low bacterial counts can be produced only in the parlour system of milking.

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Labour control

• Labour cost can be reduced and designing the animal house properly and labour efficiency can improved by double row arrangement of animals and animal building facilities circular travel and two-way job.

• Construction of alleys/passages like feed alley, milk alleys, egg collection alleys and animal weighment yard are designed to reduce the labour cost.

Disease control

• Animal house should be designed properly to effect disease control. Provision of washable and easily drained floor, washable walls will control spread of diseases. Designing of suitable drainage system for quick and hygienic disposal of wastes is required for preventing disease.

• External loose box accommodation is necessary for isolation of sick animal. Dampness resistant surface will reduce the high humidity, which is the predisposing cause for respiratory disease in pigs and young animals.

Floor space requirement

Type of animal

Floor space requirement (m2) Maximum number of

animals/pen

Height of the shed (cm) Covered area Open area

Cattle and Buffaloes

Bulls 12.0 24.0 1 175 cm in medium and heavy rain fall and 220 in dry areas.

Cows 3.5 7.0 50

Buffaloes 4.0 8.0 50

Down – calver

12.0 12.0 1

Young – calves

1.0 2.0 30

Old – calves 2.0 4.0 30

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Sheep and Goat

Ewe/Nanny 1.0 - 60 300 – dry areas and 220 in heavy rain fall areas

Lamb/kid 0.4 - 75

Ram/buck 3.4 - -

Milch doe 1.4mx1.2m - Single stall

Pigs

Boar 6.0 – 7.0 8.8 –12.0 - 200 – 250cm

Farrowing sow

7.0-9.0 8.8 – 12.0 -

Weaner/fattening pig

0.9 – 1.8 0.9 – 1.8 30

Dry sow/gilt 1.8 – 2.7 1.4 – 1.8 3 – 10

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Feeding and watering space requirements

Type of animal Width (cm) Depth (cm) Height of inner wall (cm)

Adult cattle and buffaloes

60 40 50

Calves 40 15 20

Adult sheep and goat 50 30 35

Lambs and kids 50 20 25

Adult pigs 50 20 25

Growing pigs 30 15 25

Floor space requirements of poultry Age of bird Floor space (sq. ft.)

Chicks 0 – 10 weeks 0.8 – 1.0

10 – 16 weeks 1.5 – 2.0

Layers Brown egg 2.0 – 2.5

White egg 2.0

Meat type 2.5 – 3.0

Broilers 0 – 8 weeks 0.8 – 1.0

Turkeys 0 – 8 weeks 1.0 – 1.5

8 – 12 weeks 1.5 – 2.0

12 – 20 weeks 2 - 3

20 – 26 weeks 3 – 4

Breeders 6 – 8

Ducks 0 – 7 weeks 0.5 – 1.0

7 weeks to maturity 2.5

Breeders herd 3.0

Confined 6.0

Quails Adults 200 – 250 cm2

Feeder and water space requirements of chicken

Age (weeks) Feeder space (inches) Waterer space

Chicken

0 – 3 1.0 – 1.5 25 cm

3 –10 2.5 100 cm

10 – 13 and above 4 250 cm

Quails 1.0 – 1.2 (linear) 1.5 – 2 cm