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Higher buildings for egg production gain popularity as farmers wish to cut costs
In the same way that urban spread can be reduced by high-rise buildings, high-rise poultry buildings can save valuable land footprint.
Double and triple-decker houses with eight or 12 tiers of cages have been a popular solution for egg production for many years. This solution is popular for egg production because of the savings in egg and manure transportation within the farm, as well as land utilization. Agrotop has successfully built many such projects around the world.
Double-decker for broiler and breeder farms
Recently, there has been increased interest in double-decker sheds for floor-raised broilers and breeders. By using double-decker houses, the farmer can grow twice the number of chickens in the same space. Taking into account infrastructure and other costs, the investment in the shed and equipment per bird is similar to the costs of a single-storey building.
A separate controller operates each floor independently, so it is no harder to grow the poultry than in a single-level shed. Typically, 100,000 birds can be grown in such a double-decker house.
Man started constructing high buildings when land prices in city centers made it logical to start building upwards to minimize the cost of the land per the total floor area of a building, and the same logic applies to building double-decker poultry sheds.
We built the first double-decker sheds for floor-raised breeders nearly 30 years ago in Taiwan and these sheds are still operational today.
The present interest in double-decker sheds comes from a number of sources:
– Environmental – Increased concern about urban sprawl has led to concerns about how much of the countryside is covered by agricultural buildings. Double-decker sheds enables the production of twice the number of birds on the same “footprint.”
– Regulatory and shortage of land – In some countries, this is the main driver for more intensive production on the same land.
– Security – A compact farm is easier to protect.
– Biosecurity – If a number of farms of different ages are to be built in a limited area, building double-decker sheds will enable the crucial space between the sheds to be wider. This will improve biosecurity and compliance with national regulations.
– Cost – With advanced building design techniques and considering that fewer earthworks are required, the cost per bird is similar for implementing a double-decker project as for a single-decker.
Things to consider
While designing a high building farm, there are some important design issues that need to be addressed:
– Each “deck” should be regarded as a separate shed, with its own controller and ventilation programme.
– As the building is taller, it is even more essential than usual to ensure that it is competently designed, according to the highest engineering standards, using local building codes to meet weather and, if necessary, seismological conditions.
– One challenge is the possibility of a tractor reaching the second floor for bird marketing and litter removal. Each project is different in this respect. Agrotop’s engineering team will help to identify the best solution for this if required.
