Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The Author's Experience:Winter Housing Challenge
7
Sizing Seasonal Facilities
One of the more difficult aspects of our certified organic laying flock is winter hous-
ing. During the growing season, while the hens are out on pasture, the housing facil-
ities in the field (15 × 48 ft. hoop house) are potentially adequate for 500 birds. Since
the birds have constant access to a ¼-acre paddock, rotated weekly, they only use the
housing for roosting and laying eggs. Giving them a little less than 1.5 sq. ft. per bird
of floor space poses no problems for litter-pack management, bird social order, or or-
ganic certification.
In the winter we move the birds to a 12 × 48 ft. polycarbonate greenhouse attached
to the barn. Although we allow them outdoor access at all times, there is snow most
of the winter, and they do not choose to go outdoors. This effectively means our hens
are confined to 576 sq. ft. of deep litter pack for approximately five months. In a con-
finement situation the allowed square footage of floor space per bird must be in-
creased to let them work out and maintain their social order, do their dusting, eating,
roosting, foraging, etc., and to allow the deep litter pack to properly absorb and com-
post the manure.
With too much space, the birds do not keep each other warm efficiently. Keeping all
this in mind we have found that, confined to our winter housing with the deep litter
pack, the birds need approximately 2 sq. ft. per bird. This limits our winter popula-
tion to 300 mature layers. Although our summer housing could accommodate 500,
we currently maintain a flock of only 300 hens; but fall culling of the summer flock
would also make sense.
The Winter House
The winter house we built is a permanent, rugged structure that can withstand heavy
snow cover, deep litter pack, and the use of hogs to dig the pack. We built it to be ap-
pealing—it's for our winter income makers and is the focal point of the farm. We
also located it to allow access to power for frost-free water and ease of egg collec-
tion.
It's a wood-frame shed-roofed greenhouse off the west side of the barn, near power,
water, and the egg-packing room. We used polycarbonate glazing sheets for their
strength, clarity, and durability. The side panels are easily removed for ventilation,
