​Wondering what your options are for equipment

Need to know what poultry equipment in poultry production is essential, and what is optional? We answer these questions and more in this article.

Poultry farming is becoming more and more automated and efficient nowadays, even with cage-free farming posing extra logistical challenges. If you ever wanted to get into raising chickens on a large scale, now is a great time to do that.

INCUBATION

One huge part of poultry farming is, of course, hatching chickens. Before you start buying egg machines on a large scale, ask yourself how many chickens you can keep, how many chickens you’d like to hatch, how much space you have for incubating, and how sophisticated you need your machinery to be.

Egg incubators come in sizes from a dozen eggs for small egg farms to several thousand for large, industrial-sized farms. No matter what size your farm is and how many eggs you plan to hatch, you’ll need to look into these pieces of rental equipment.

Hatchery automation equipment

Not all eggs are going to hatch, though. You’re going to want to send many of them to market, and that’s where the next equipment category comes in.

EGG HANDLING

You will definitely be looking for a delicate way to handle the eggs you collect to sell. Start with these pieces of egg-handling equipment for your new poultry farm.

Trays and transfer machines come in all shapes and sizes, so figure out what combination of these works best for your farm.

Egg Trays/Egg Cages

Do you need machines to transfer the eggs to the cartons or egg trays, or can you do that by hand? It depends on how much time and energy you can devote to that.  

Many farmers start small and scale up, but that may not apply to you; at a certain point, you make more money by spending the money on the machines.

Let’s say you are hatching your birds, and you need to know what to do with them next. Egg trays and egg transport cages certainly won’t cut it! And you need more poultry equipment, such as poultry brooder equipment.

POULTRY BROODING

So you’ve hatched your chicks, but they aren’t old enough to lay or butcher. What do you do with them as they’re growing up?

This is where poultry brooding equipment comes in! You have many options for keeping them warm:

Charcoal stove/kerosene stove

Gas brooder

Electrical brooder

Infra-red bulbs

Reflectors/Hovers

Electrical heaters (heating rods or coils)

But keeping them warm is only part of the process; you’ll need brooder guards also called chick guards to keep the baby chicks from wandering off.

Also, more chick feeds way as below.

There is a great variety of different chicken feeders and drinkers systems you can install, depending on the design of your coop and the number of birds. Make sure that the system you choose provides sufficient space for the birds to have access to clean food and water at all times. Water must be kept clean and free from manure. If you live in an area prone to frosts, lag any pipes to prevent freezing. The Poultry feeders and Drinkers should be easily cleaned and replenished, and if possible, positioned to prevent access by wild birds.

Meat chickens and layers require different types of poultry feeds. The type will also vary according to the age of the birds. Chicks will usually be fed on crumbles, which are high in protein and energy. By the time a pullet is ready to lay, it will be consuming from 80 to 100 g of feed per day. A grown hen will drink from 250 to 300 ml of water a day, consuming up to half a liter per day in very hot conditions. This means that your chicken waterer system must be reliable, as, without sufficient water, birds will quickly become dehydrated.

If you are putting the chicken feeders and drinkers in the backyard, make sure it has a leak-proof hat to protect them from weather conditions that may destroy them. The feeder should be raised by a stand or raised with a couple of bricks. Meanwhile, some chicken feeders come with legs or you can simply hang the feeders up. There are some plastic and metal feeders, as normally Plastic feeders are used for first-time poultry farmers keeping just a couple of hens or cocks; metal poultry Feeders are more durable, as well know quality is the base price, and simple plastic feeders don’t have enough space for even distribution of feed, and as the plastic feeder is lightweight that it is easily knocked over or broken. It is advisable to have a sizable poultry feeder that will carry enough feed daily. Most tower poultry waterers have their center section turned upside down for filling, it is reattached to the base and set upright for the birds to drink from. Just pls note that there are drinkers with locking bases and push-on bases. Most cheap plastic chicken drinkers come with push-on bases that can be difficult to fill, and they get easily blocked leaving the birds thirsty. Then you can use either a plastic drinker or a metal drinker. Metal drinkers are more durable while plastic drinkers are less expensive. The drinker should be placed above ground level and kept away from direct sunshine to prevent algae and keep the water cold. Make sure you would get a suitable drinker and also clean water to be supplied.

POULTRY CHICKS FEEDING

What is the most efficient way to feed a lot of chickens or turkeys, ducks, or any type of poultry with a little bit of waste? You have a lot of options, so the right equipment for you will depend on factors such as the number of animals, space requirements, the time you have to refill the feeders, etc.

A chicken feeding pan/tray, such as a feeder line, works differently than, say, a chicken grit feeder. Regardless, be assured that as long as you’re including the right nutrients in their food, your animals will grow happy and healthy with any of these options:

Food is only part of what your poultry birds need. The more important part is the poultry breeding equipment.

POULTRY WATERING

How do you get your chickens the water they need to stay healthy and strong? As you shop for watering methods, consider how much space you have, how many chicken birds you have, how much time you have to fill the poultry water containers, and what your birds respond to best.

Some of these options dispense water, some of them are open to the air, and some of them require more work for the birds. Here are the most popular options:

Waterer barrel

line waterer/Channel waterers

Water basin made of plastic/wood/GI with grill

Bell-type automatic waterer

Nipple drinkers

chicken drinkers