What are the safety control measures for fully enclosed chicken houses?
To build an environmentally safe chicken farm, the total amount of pathogenic microorganisms should be controlled from four aspects of the chicken house: air, feed, drinking water and manure.
?Air quality control
Quality control of the gas entering the chicken house. Most infectious diseases are currently spread through the air, so the air entering the chicken house must undergo proper purification and sterilization and disinfection treatment. During this period, some better purification and sterilization equipment can be used to purify the air.
Gas quality control inside the chicken house. Most of the dust inside the chicken house comes from the chickens' skin and feathers, or is produced when they cough or crow. For floor-reared chicken houses, the litter can also produce dust. This dust carries pathogenic microorganisms into the infection zone, which in turn causes immunization and medication to fail to produce the desired effect. There is currently a comprehensive technical device that can not only reduce the concentration of harmful gases but also remove dust. This device can establish a space electric field control network inside the chicken house, and can remove at least 80% of the dust in the chicken house, while reducing air humidity by 3%~12%, removing harmful gases with an efficiency of 40%~60%, and removing carbon dioxide with an efficiency of 30%~40%. For floor-reared chicken houses, the efficiency of removing microbial colonies can reach 82%~99%. For environmentally safe cage-reared chicken houses, it is necessary not only to set up a space electric field control network above the chicken house, but also to install space electric field control electrodes in the manure channels, thereby achieving an efficiency of 90%~99% in removing microbial colonies.
Gas quality control at the air inlet. Most gas carrying germs and dust enters the chicken house through the exhaust outlet, so corresponding gas purification equipment should be installed at the exhaust outlet. Every 100 square meters of chicken house requires at least 1 piece of gas purification equipment. To increase the air flow entering the chicken house, an exhaust duct can be added to the gas purification equipment, or a high-draft exhaust duct made of plastic film that can be heated by sunlight can be added to the rooftop gas purification equipment. The length of the exhaust duct should be 6 m~12 m. Its effect is especially obvious in summer, and it can lower the temperature inside the chicken house by about 2°C~3°C.
Ventilation design inside the house
Summer weather is relatively hot, especially when the temperature is above 30°C, which makes the flock feel uncomfortable and may affect their growth and development and egg-laying performance. Therefore, some heat stress resistance and cooling measures should be adopted to solve this, while also doing a good job of ventilation inside the chicken house.
The ventilation design should be considered during the chicken house design stage, including power supply, equipment and so on, and installation positions should be reserved. Ventilation equipment in China generally adopts two methods: fan air supply and air extraction, and it should be installed in a position that allows the air inside the chicken house to flow longitudinally, so as to achieve the best ventilation effect. The number of fans to be installed can be comprehensively considered according to fan power, chicken house area, flock size and actual temperature.
?Temperature control
As the age of the chickens increases, the temperature of the chicken house should also change accordingly. For chicks from 0 weeks to 6 weeks of age, the temperature inside the chicken house should be controlled at 18°C~25°C. On the first day of brooding, the temperature inside the chicken house should be controlled at 33°C~35°C, then decreased by 2°C~3°C each week until it reaches 18°C~25°C. For laying hens, the temperature inside the chicken house should be controlled at 13°C~23°C, and during this period it should not be lower than 5°C at minimum or exceed 30°C at maximum. To achieve the most ideal egg-laying effect and feed efficiency, the temperature inside the chicken house should be controlled at 13°C~27°C. If the temperature at each stage is not well controlled, especially if it alternates between hot and cold, it is very easy to cause cold and heat stress, which in turn leads to failure of immunization or medication. In this regard, environmentally safe chicken houses can use ecological methods to regulate temperature, or use wet curtains or mechanical ventilation to regulate temperature.
Ecological temperature regulation. It uses solar greenhouses and plant community evaporation to cool and insulate, thereby regulating temperature. During the day when the weather is clear, the hot air in the greenhouse enters the chicken house through the purification equipment at the air inlet, and after mixing and exchanging heat with the original gas, it is discharged through the exhaust duct. At night, the heat storage effect of the greenhouse walls and soil can be used, so the temperature inside the chicken house will not drop rapidly and cause cold and heat stress.
Wet curtain or mechanical ventilation temperature regulation method. Compared with the ecological temperature regulation method, this is more traditional. This temperature regulation method uses some heating equipment to achieve temperature regulation. When using this method, purification equipment should be installed at the air inlet and outlet of the relevant equipment to ensure the environmental safety of the chicken house.
?Methods for removing harmful gases
Ground odor absorption method. Spreading a layer of superphosphate on the ground inside the poultry house can control the release of ammonia from the manure, thereby reducing the odor of the poultry house. During this period, 350 grams of superphosphate can be evenly spread on every 50 poultry activity ground area.
Litter deodorization method. Mixing sulfur into the litter can keep the pH value of the litter below 7.0, thereby reducing the formation and release of ammonia in the manure, controlling the ammonia content inside the chicken house, and reducing ammonia odor. During this period, 0.5 kg of sulfur can be added per square meter of ground and mixed into the litter.
Air odor absorption method. Substances with adsorption properties such as activated carbon, charcoal and quicklime can be used to adsorb odors in the air. During this period, the materials can be put into mesh bags and hung inside the chicken house or placed on the ground, which can produce a good deodorizing effect.
Chinese herbal medicine deodorization method. Many Chinese herbal medicines have a certain deodorizing effect, such as mugwort leaf, Atractylodes lancea and straw. During this period, the above substances can be divided into equal portions in appropriate amounts, placed inside the poultry house and ignited, which can produce a good effect of inhibiting bacteria and deodorizing. It is best to use this deodorization method when the house is empty.
Chemical deodorization method. Some chemical substances such as hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate and copper sulfate will reduce the air odor inside the poultry house to a certain extent. During this period, 4% copper sulfate and an appropriate amount of slaked lime can be mixed into the litter, which can produce a good deodorizing effect.