How should a livestock farm be set up? Detailed explanation of Chapter 7
Chapter 7 Setting Up a Livestock Farm
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Section 1 Selection of a Livestock Farm Site
A livestock farm is the place where livestock live and production takes place. It affects the normal operation of the farm's production and its future prospects for development. The selection of a livestock farm site should be carried out based on two aspects: on one hand, analysis and study based on local natural conditions (topography, terrain, water sources, soil, etc.); on the other hand, investigation and interviews based on local socioeconomic conditions (residential areas, transportation, power, labor, etc.), so as to correctly select the site and avoid discovering after the farm is built that it is unsuitable and cannot be changed, causing great damage to production.
1. Topography and Terrain
1. Topography
(1) Refers to the form, size and surface features of the site.
(2) Requirements: open and neat. It should not be too long and narrow, and there should not be too many corners, otherwise it will affect the reasonable layout of buildings; if the boundary line of the livestock farm is stretched long, it is not conducive to epidemic prevention, and at the same time, the feeding routes are lengthened, mechanization is difficult to achieve, and the effectively usable area is not much.
2. Terrain
(1) Refers to the undulating condition of the site.
(2) Requirements: high and dry terrain. It should be above the historical flood line, and its groundwater level should be below 2 m. This can ensure good drainage, keep the air environment dry and warm, help livestock regulate body temperature, and reduce the chance of disease.
Low-lying and damp land is not good for livestock, but the livestock farm should also not be chosen on a prominent hilltop, because in winter the wind speed is too high there and it affects the insulation of the livestock barns.
Sunny orientation, so that livestock are frequently exposed to sunlight, promotes Ca and P metabolism in the body and makes the bones sturdy.
The ground of the livestock farm should be flat with a slight slope to facilitate drainage. The ideal ground slope is 2-5%, and the maximum should not exceed 25%. If the hillside slope is large, mountain floods often form during heavy rain, which is not safe enough for livestock; when building livestock barns, construction is difficult, investment is large, and feeding management and transportation are inconvenient.
Land area of the livestock farm. Generally, the larger the scale of an industrial livestock farm, the easier it is to adopt advanced technology and equipment, the more economically land and buildings can be used, and the more management personnel can be reduced. At present, China still has investment problems and technical problems. The scale of livestock farms is not yet large enough, but both the building area and land area indices are much larger than foreign indices, because foreign livestock farms develop not only toward single-story multi-span but also toward multi-story. This can effectively save land, and also helps reduce the length of pipelines and roads, facilitating development toward mechanization and automation. Generally, multi-story construction can save at least more than 100% compared with single-story construction. Of course, multi-story buildings still have some problems, such as vertical transportation, structural treatment, and construction.
For example, in Korea, the land area per fattened pig produced each year is 2-6 sq m, and the building area is 0.7-1 sq m; in Italy, the land area per fattened pig produced is 2-3 sq m, and the building area is 0.8-0.9 sq m.
China currently still has no quota standard for livestock farm land area. Soviet materials are introduced here for reference.
Livestock type Number of head Area (mu)
Dairy cattle 100 30.00
Foundation sows 100 42.00
Fattening pigs 100 4.5
Sheep 100 3.0
Poultry 10000 60-70
20000 105-120
30000 150-180
The building land area depends on the farm's management direction and tasks. Cattle, pig and sheep farms generally use 10-12% of the total site area, and breeding poultry farms can be calculated at 18-20%.
2. Water source (types, advantages and disadvantages, conditions) (described in Chapter 5)
Sufficient water quantity, good water quality, convenient to draw and use, easy to protect
3. Soil (types, requirements) (described in Chapter 5)
1. The soil is required not to have been polluted.
2. There should be no geochemical environmental endemic diseases.
3. Land with a high groundwater level and strong swampiness cannot be used for building a farm.
4. Sandy loam soil is best for building a farm: good water permeability and air permeability, small water-holding capacity and hygroscopicity, weak capillary action, low thermal conductivity, and good insulation.
4. Social connections
(1) Selection of geographical location
1. Relationship with residential areas
Because a livestock farm is a source of pollution, it should be chosen downwind of residential areas and at a lower location than the residential area, but it should be away from the residential area's sewage outlet, and even more should not be chosen downwind of chemical plants, slaughterhouses, tanneries and other enterprises that easily cause environmental pollution. The distance between the farm and residential areas should be more than 200 m, and the distance between residents and large livestock farms should be more than 1500 m.
2. Transportation
A livestock farm should be built in a place with convenient transportation, but the distance from major highways should be at least 100-300 m. If there is a wall, it can be shortened to about 50 m.
3. Good power supply conditions
(2) Cultural and living conditions
(3) Environmental protection conditions
It is necessary to consider whether the surrounding area has the conditions to handle livestock farm waste without causing environmental pollution in nearby areas. The scale of the livestock farm must be compatible with the utilization of waste in the area where it is built.
Section 2 Zoning Planning and Public Health Facilities of Livestock Farms
1. Zoning planning of livestock farms
Usually divided into three functional zones
Production zone (livestock barns: feed storage, processing and preparation buildings).
Management zone (buildings related to management, livestock product processing and storage buildings, and workers' living welfare buildings and facilities).
Sick livestock management zone (veterinary room, isolation room)
When carrying out zoning planning for a livestock farm, as with site selection, the first consideration should be the health of people, livestock and poultry, so as to establish the best production connections and sanitation and epidemic prevention conditions, reasonably arrange the location of each zone, and consider terrain and prevailing wind direction for reasonable zoning. This is usually as shown in the figure below.
2. Reasonable layout of livestock farm buildings
Principles: conducive to ventilation, wind intake, epidemic prevention and the implementation of mechanization.
(1) Layout types
1. Compact type: the distances among various livestock barns and between them and other buildings are relatively small, for example, in a pig farm only an exercise yard is set between two buildings and there is no walkway.
Advantages: in this layout, the livestock barns are very dense and compact, the land area is small, and equipment investment is relatively low.
Small livestock farms choose the small compact type, while large modern livestock farms tend to choose the dispersed type.
2. Dispersed type: the spacing between livestock barns is relatively large; between two buildings, in addition to an exercise yard, there are also roads, or a certain distance is used as a green belt.
Advantages: better ventilation and epidemic prevention. Disadvantages: relatively large land area and large investment.
(2) Location
According to production stages, barns for dams and young livestock should be close to each other, barns for male livestock should be in a quiet place for production, production herds should be in different sections and raised by zone, and breeding livestock and young livestock should be upwind.
They should be reasonably selected according to the specific conditions of the site and by following the sanitation requirements of zoning planning. In addition to considering terrain and wind direction, a certain sanitary spacing should also be maintained.
Single-operation and specialized production. To ensure epidemic prevention safety, breeding livestock, young livestock and production herds should be separated and placed in different sections. Breeding herds and young livestock herds should be in zones that are relatively safe for epidemic prevention, that is, upwind. If it is a comprehensive management farm, sub-areas must be divided within the same production zone for layout, and they must not be mixed and interlaced. A distance of no less than 200 m must be maintained between breeding herds and commercial herds, and the sanitary spacing between livestock barns of different species should not be less than 50 m.
(3) Orientation and direction
For south-facing livestock barns, because the solar altitude angle changes with the seasons, in winter the solar altitude angle is smaller and sunlight penetrates deeper into the barn, which is beneficial to insulation; in summer the solar altitude angle is larger, and the opposite is true. Therefore, south-facing barns are warm in winter and cool in summer.
Orientation is also related to ventilation. China's geographical location is in the southeast monsoon region of Asia. In summer the southeast wind prevails, and in winter the northeast wind or northwest wind prevails. Therefore, livestock barns facing south are conducive to summer ventilation and prevent the invasion of cold winter winds. It is generally believed that south by east or west 15-30 degrees is allowable. In hot southern regions, to avoid sunlight, west-facing orientations should be avoided as much as possible, and the best orientation is south by east 10º.
(4) Arrangement method
Considering that buildings should be configured as compactly as possible to ensure the shortest transportation, power supply, water supply and implementation of mechanization, roads should be well organized and livestock barns should be arranged in parallel and neatly. When arranged in one row, those needing the most feed should be concentrated in the center and close to the feed preparation room; when arranged in two rows, they should be set in the first building of each row.
(5) Spacing
The spacing of livestock barns should be considered from lighting, ventilation, and sanitation and epidemic prevention.
1. Lighting
To ensure that each livestock barn can obtain sufficient sunlight in winter, it is determined according to the solar altitude angle on the winter solstice.
tgα=h/x x=h/tgα x=1.28h
Generally, the required spacing should be 1.5-2 times the barn height.
2. From the perspective of ventilation, it depends on the ventilation method
Mechanical ventilation: the spacing is 1-1.5 times the barn height;
Natural ventilation: if the long axis of the livestock barn is perpendicular to the main summer wind direction, the rear livestock barns are blocked by the front row and the ventilation effect is poor. According to airflow curves, after airflow encounters an obstacle and is blocked, it rises and moves forward over the obstacle. It must travel a distance 4-5 times the height of the obstacle before it can return to its original state. But in reality such a large distance is impossible. If the long axis of the livestock barn forms a certain angle with the main summer wind direction, the distance can be reduced.
3. From the perspective of sanitation and epidemic prevention, China still has no specific regulations on the sanitary spacing of livestock barns. According to Soviet materials, it is 30 m for livestock of the same species and 50 m for livestock of different species; the fire prevention spacing is generally 12-30 m; the manure storage site should maintain 200 m from residential houses in residential areas and 100 m from livestock barns; the sanitary spacing can be reduced to 50 m if a wall is set. It can thus be seen that the sanitary spacing between livestock barns cannot be considered simply from the perspective of saving land; it must be determined comprehensively by fire prevention, epidemic prevention, ventilation and lighting. To ensure winter lighting, it is required that the distance between a livestock barn and its adjacent buildings or trees must not be less than 2 times the height of the buildings or trees. Therefore, it is reasonable for the sanitary spacing between livestock barns to be no less than 20 m.
(6) Road organization
Requirements: roads should be short and straight to ensure the shortest transportation, power supply and water supply routes and reduce investment. The main road width is 5.5-6.5 m, and the branch road width is 2-3.5 m. The main road is connected to off-farm transportation routes, and branch roads are connected to livestock barns, feed warehouses, product warehouses, veterinary buildings, manure storage sites, etc.
The road surface should be solid and have good drainage (with a certain curvature). Road facilities should not hinder drainage within the farm, and drainage ditches should also be set on both sides of the roads.
Transportation on livestock and poultry farms is very busy. Taking a 100,000-layer hen farm as an example, 12-13 T of feed is needed every day, and more chicken manure is transported out, along with 3000-4500 kg of eggs. Pig farms and dairy farms have even larger transportation volumes. For epidemic prevention, roads should be divided in terms of function. Within the farm, roads for transporting feed and livestock products (clean roads) should be separated from roads for transporting manure (dirty roads), and cross-use is not allowed.
(7) Setting up livestock exercise yards
Outdoor exercise yards should be chosen in a place sheltered from the wind and facing the sun. Generally, the spacing between livestock barns is used (pigs, chickens), and they can also be set up in relatively open places within the farm (cattle).
The exercise yard should be flat with a slight slope to facilitate drainage and maintain dryness. A fence should be set around it, with the following heights:
Horse 1.6 m Sheep 1.1 m Chicken 1.8 m
Cattle 1.2 m Pig 1.1 m
On one side of the exercise yard, trees should be planted, and drainage ditches should be set outside the exercise yard fence.
Reference area of outdoor exercise yard per head of livestock: sq m
Adult dairy cow 20 Young cattle 15
Sow with piglets 12-15 Breeding boar 30
Piglets aged 2-6 months 4-7 Fattening pig 5 Sheep 4
3. Public health facilities
(1) Farm boundary and zone boundary
The boundaries of a livestock farm should be clearly defined. A relatively high wall or a sturdy epidemic prevention ditch should be built around it to prevent off-farm personnel and other animals from entering the farm area and spreading disease. Water should be kept in the ditch.
Each zone within the farm should be provided with walls or small epidemic prevention ditches, and shelter forest belts should be planted.
At the main gate of the livestock farm and the entrances of each zone, corresponding disinfection facilities should be set up, such as vehicle disinfection pools and foot disinfection troughs for people.
(2) Water supply and drainage of livestock farms
Water consumption of the farm
1. Domestic water for people: calculated at 20-40 liters per person per day
2. Livestock water use: water requirements of various livestock
In order to ensure water use regularly and fully, when calculating farm water consumption and carrying out design and construction, it must be calculated according to the maximum consumption within a unit of time.
Water supply methods
1. Decentralized water supply
This means that each water use point directly draws water in a decentralized manner from various water sources (wells, rivers, lakes, ponds, etc.).
2. Centralized water supply: namely tap water.
(3) Drainage facilities of livestock farms
The drainage system within the farm is mostly set on both sides of various roads and around livestock exercise yards. Sloped drainage ditches are generally used. If square open ditches are used, the deepest point should not exceed 30 cm, the ditch bottom should have a slope of 1-2%, and the upper opening width should be 30-60 cm. For concealed ditch drainage systems, if it exceeds 200 m, sedimentation wells should be added, and sedimentation wells should be at least more than 200 m away from water sources.
(4) Manure storage facilities of the farm
When manure and urine are separated, manure is stored in solid form. The manure storage site should be placed downwind of the production zone, maintain a sanitary spacing of 200 m from residences and 100 m from livestock barns (it can be reduced to 50 m if there is a wall). The manure storage tank is generally 1 m deep, 9-10 m wide and 30-50 m long. The manure storage tank area required per head of livestock is calculated on the basis of storage for 6 months and a stacking height of 1.5 m: cattle 2.5 sq m, horse 2 sq m, sheep or pig 0.4 sq m.
When manure and water are not separated:
Manure water tank: volume, dairy cattle 0.07-0.08 m3 per head per day, pigs (70 kg) 0.004-0.005 m3 per head per day, and it should be 60-90 m away from livestock barns, 150 m away from residential areas, and placed downwind.
Sedimentation tank: standing the manure water in the tank can settle 50-85% of the solid matter. The sedimentation tank should be large and shallow, but its water depth should not be less than 0.6 m, and the maximum depth should not exceed 1.2 m.
Oxidation tank: this is a manure water treatment method that promotes the reproduction of aerobic bacteria to decompose organic solid matter by supplying air into the manure water to provide oxygen, thereby achieving harmless treatment of manure. Solid matter should be prevented from settling as much as possible, so the flow rate of manure water in the tank must be maintained at 0.45-0.60 m/s.
(5) Greening of livestock farms
1. Setting up farm boundary forest belts
Plant mixed forest belts of tall trees and shrubs around the farm boundary, especially on the north and west sides of the farm boundary, where such mixed forest belts should be widened (more than 10 m wide) to play a role in wind protection and sand blocking.
2. Farm area isolation forest belts
Used to separate each zone within the farm and for fire prevention.
3. Greening on both sides of roads inside and outside the farm
Generally 1-2 rows. In lighting areas close to buildings, tree species with excessively dense branches and leaves or excessively tall trees should not be planted, so as not to affect the natural lighting of livestock barns.
4. Shade forest for exercise yards
On the south and west sides of the exercise yard, set up 1-2 rows of shade forest.
Section 3 Livestock Farm Process Design
The nature and scale of the livestock farm;
Production process design: herd composition, production process flow, feeding and management methods;
Livestock farm process design: consumption quotas for water, electricity, feed, etc., labor quotas, selection and configuration of production equipment;
Production indicators, feed consumption standards and other process parameters;
Basic dimensions of livestock housing;
Engineering process design: engineering disease prevention measures;
Environmental control measures;
Farm site layout plan.
I. Basic Principles of Livestock Farm Production Process Design
1. It must be a modern, scientific livestock production enterprise;
2. Through environmental regulation measures, eliminate climate differences between seasons and achieve balanced production throughout the year; adopt engineering and technical means to ensure environmental self-purification and ensure safe production;
3. Establish specialized farms and specialized workshops to achieve specialized production;
4. Livestock housing design should conform to the livestock and poultry production process flow and feeding scale; the number of livestock and poultry at each stage, the number of pens, and equipment should be allocated in proportion, so that livestock housing can be fully utilized as much as possible;
5. Where possible, adopt an all-in-all-out operating mode to cut off the transmission routes of pathogenic microorganisms;
6. Clear division of labor.
II. Content and Methods of Livestock Farm Production Process Design
1. The nature and tasks of the livestock farm
(1) Nature of the livestock farm
According to the breeding system, it is divided into nucleus farms, great-grandparent farms, parent stock farms, and commercial farms.
(2) Tasks of the farm
A: The task of the nucleus farm is to produce matching lines and provide great-grandparent breeding stock, hatching eggs, semen, embryos, etc. to the outside.
B: The task of the great-grandparent farm is to improve breeds, using the great-grandparent products obtained from the nucleus farm and scientific methods to reproduce and cultivate the superior breeds needed by lower-level farms. Usually, cultivating a new breed requires a large amount of capital and a relatively long time, and a certain number of livestock technicians. Modern great-grandparent farms for livestock breeds generally raise 4 lines.
C: The task of the parent stock farm is to use the breeding stock obtained from the great-grandparent farm to produce the breeding stock needed by commercial farms.
D: The commercial farm uses the breeding stock obtained from the parent stock farm to engage specifically in commercial-generation livestock production.
Usually, great-grandparent farms, parent stock farms, and commercial farms often focus on one main business while also operating other types of production activities. For example, while a great-grandparent chicken farm produces parent stock hatching eggs and breeding chickens, it also has branch farms producing some commercial laying hens for the market. To solve the breeding stock needed by the commercial pig farm itself, the nature and tasks of livestock farms
Dairy farms generally do not show a clear distinction, because commercial milk will inevitably be produced during breeding selection. Therefore, they show the dual task of supplying fresh milk and superior breeding cattle to the outside at the same time, but each farm has a different focus; some mainly supply milk, while others focus on breeding superior stock.
2. Scale of the livestock farm
There is still no standardized method for describing the scale of a livestock farm. Some calculate by the number of animals on hand (head or birds), while others calculate by the annual number of commercial livestock and poultry sold. For example, commercial pig farms and broiler and beef cattle farms calculate by annual sales volume; breeding pig farms may also calculate by the number of foundation sows; breeding chicken farms mostly calculate by the number of breeding chicken sets; dairy farms calculate by the number of milking cows, etc.
Types and scale classification of pig farms
Type Annual number of commercial pigs sold Annual number of breeding sows raised
Small farm Less than 5000 Less than 300
Medium farm 5000-10000 300-600
Large farm More than 10000 More than 600
Types and scale of chicken farms (10,000 birds)
Category Large farm Medium farm Small farm
Great-grandparent chicken farm >=1.0 <1.0，≥0.5 <0.5
Breeding chicken farm
Parent stock Layer farm >=3.0 <3.0，≥1.0 <1.0
Broiler farm >=5.0 <5.0，≥1.0 <1.0
Layer farm
Broiler farm >=20.0
≥100.0 <20.0，≥5.0
<100.0，≥50.0 <5.0
<50.0
The determination of the nature and scale of a livestock farm must be based on market demand and must take into account technical level, investment capacity, and various conditions. Breeding livestock and poultry farms should be incorporated into the national or regional breeding system as much as possible; their nature and scale should adapt to national or regional needs and plans, and should be carefully considered when establishing the farm. Blindly pursuing a high level and large scale can easily lead to failure.
3. Livestock production process flow
The determination of the livestock farm production process plan should satisfy the following principles: 1) comply with livestock production technical requirements; 2) benefit livestock farm disease prevention and sanitation requirements; 3) meet the technical requirements for reducing manure and sewage discharge and harmless treatment; 4) save water and energy; 5) be able to increase productivity.
(1) Pig production process flow
It is usually determined according to the reproductive process of pigs. Pig farm production links include sow mating, gestation, farrowing, piglet suckling, rearing, and fattening. Correspondingly, the pig herd is divided into boar herd, breeding sow herd, piglet nursery herd, and growing-fattening herd. The breeding sow herd can further be divided into replacement gilt herd, sows to be mated herd, pregnant sow herd, and farrowing-lactating sow herd. The entire process is carried out in a planned and rhythmic manner according to the flow shown in Figure 7-1
Modern pig farming generally adopts staged feeding and all-in-all-out production processes. Common process flows include the two-stage type, namely open-gestation-lactation to growing-fattening; the three-stage type, namely open-gestation, lactation, to growing-fattening; the four-stage type, namely open-gestation, lactation, piglet nursery, to growing-fattening; and the five-stage type, namely open-gestation, lactation, piglet nursery, rearing, to growing-fattening, etc.
It should be pointed out that in the production process flow, the division of feeding stages is not fixed. For example, in order to strengthen the management of pregnant sows and improve the sow farrowing rate, the open and pregnant sow herd is divided into the open-mating period, early gestation, and late gestation. Lactating piglets are generally weaned at 5 weeks; in order to increase the number of litters per sow per year, some also reduce the weaning time to 4 weeks or 3 weeks. In order to improve lean meat percentage, the fattening period is divided into early fattening and late fattening; in the early period, feeding is ad libitum, and in the late period, feeding is restricted. Because local pig breeds grow slowly, each feeding stage is relatively longer. Breeding pig production generally has no fattening period. In short, the division of feeding stages in the process flow must be determined according to the nature and scale of the pig farm and on the premise of improving productivity.
(2) Chicken production process flow
It is divided according to several periods that a chicken experiences in its life, namely 0-6 weeks of age as the brooding period, 7-20 weeks of age as the rearing period, and 21-76 weeks of age as the laying period. In different periods, because the physiological conditions of chickens differ, there are different requirements for the environment, equipment, feeding management, technical level, and other aspects. In addition, chicken farms of different natures also have different process flows (Figure 7-3). Therefore, chicken farms should establish different types of chicken houses respectively to meet the physiological, behavioral, and production requirements of the flock and maximize the production potential of the flock.
The production processes of laying hens and breeding chickens mainly include one-stage, two-stage, and three-stage feeding models. The one-stage feeding model means that chickens are raised in one chicken house from hatching to market or culling. The two-stage feeding model means that chickens from 0...20 weeks of age are raised in brooding-rearing chicken houses, and after 21 weeks of age they are transferred to laying hen houses until culling. Three-stage feeding means that the brooding stage (0-6 weeks of age) and rearing stage (7-20 weeks of age) in the two-stage feeding are raised separately in brooding houses and rearing houses. Farms with refined management also adopt a four-stage feeding model, namely dividing the laying period into early laying and late laying, but this mainly involves changes in feed formula and management, and generally does not involve transferring chicken houses.
(3) Cattle farm production process flow
In the cattle production process flow, the life of cattle is divided into the calf period (0-6 months of age), young cattle period (7-15 months of age), replacement cattle period (16 months of age to before the first calving), and adult cattle period (from the first parity to culling). The adult cattle period can be further divided according to reproductive stages into gestation, lactation, and dry period. Its cattle herd structure includes calves, growing cattle, replacement heifers, and adult cows. The entire production basically proceeds according to the following process flow:
Newborn calf----(weaned at 2-6 months of age)----sexual maturity at about 1.5 years---body maturity at 2-3 years (first mating or semen collection at 18-24 months of age)---gestation (10 months)---first calving, lactation---2 months after calving, estrus, second mating---dry off 2 months before calving---second calving, lactation---...culling.
In modern dairy production, artificial insemination technology is generally used, and dairy farms generally do not raise bulls. Usually, bull stud stations are established according to certain regions, and breeding bulls are raised in a centralized manner. Replacement bulls are provided by superior breeding cattle farms through strict selection and breeding or introduced from abroad.
Beef cattle production processes are generally divided according to newborn calves (weaned at 2-6 months of age) - young cattle - growing cattle (feeder cattle) - fattening cattle - market. At 8-10 months of age, bulls must be castrated.
4. Main process parameters
Production process parameters are an important basis for the production capacity, technical level, feed consumption, and corresponding facilities of modern livestock farms. Usually, these process parameters are also the production indicators and quota management standards after the livestock farm is put into operation. Whether the parameters are correct or not will have a great impact on the entire design and the organization of the production flow. For this reason, the parameters must be repeatedly scrutinized and carefully determined.
(1) Main process parameters of pig farms
The process parameters of large-scale pig farms mainly consider pig herd structure, reproductive cycle, breeding pig production indicators, other pig herd production indicators, etc. Appendix Table 1 shows the process parameters of a 10,000-head pig farm for reference in design.
(2) Main process parameters of chicken farms
Chicken farm process parameters are mainly determined according to the type and nature of the chicken farm, chicken breed, flock structure, feeding and management conditions, technical and management level, etc. The main process parameters of chicken farms can generally refer to Appendix Table 2.
(3) Main process parameters of cattle farms
Cattle farm process parameters mainly include the division of the cattle herd, number of feeding days, mating method, male-to-female ratio, years of utilization, production performance indicators, and feed quotas, etc. See Appendix Table 3.
5. Various environmental parameters
In process design, indoor environmental parameters and standards such as temperature, humidity, ventilation volume, air speed, lighting time and intensity, harmful gas concentration, dust content, and microbial content should be provided. For relevant content, see other chapters of this book.
6. Feeding methods
(1) Chicken feeding methods
They can be divided into cage raising, raised wire-floor raising, partial raised wire-floor raising, and floor litter raising. Breeding chicken production generally adopts a two-stage or three-stage process model, using floor raising or partial raised wire-floor raising or different forms of cage raising. Mechanical or manual feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply, manual egg collection, and centralized manure removal. Laying hens adopt a three-stage feeding method, commonly using full-period cage raising, mechanical or manual feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply, manual or mechanical egg collection, and staged manure removal. Broiler farms adopt "all-in-all-out" and a one-stage feeding model, with floor deep litter raising or raised wire-floor raising or cage raising. Mechanical feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply, and centralized manure removal. As to which feeding method the chicken farm adopts, the flock size, whether laying hens and breeding chickens use 1 or 2 laying cycles, and the market and culling age of the flock, etc., must be clarified during design in order to determine the number and area of various chicken houses.
(2) Dairy cattle feeding methods
Generally, they can be divided into tie-stall feeding, stanchion feeding, and loose housing. Newborn calves are often raised in individual calf hutches. However, it should be noted that loose housing can only be implemented when a centralized milking parlor is designed.
Relatively speaking, loose housing management is more extensive and can better meet the behavioral and welfare needs of cattle, but milking, treatment, and other operations cannot be carried out inside the cattle house; tie-stall feeding facilitates refined management and can use a fixed pipeline milking system to milk directly in the house. Beef cattle mainly have three feeding methods: grazing, semi-housed feeding, and fully housed feeding. Grazing feeding is suitable for grassland areas with good forage conditions, and generally requires simple cattle sheds, drinking troughs, and supplementary feeding troughs. Fully housed feeding is mainly used for beef cattle without grazing conditions or for late-stage fattening of beef cattle with grazing conditions, or for beef cattle production to improve production efficiency. Feed troughs, water troughs, and hay racks are provided in fixed cattle houses and exercise yards. Semi-housed feeding falls between the two; it can both make full use of forage resources and allow cattle to enter the cattle house after returning from grazing to supplement with hay, silage, and concentrate.
(3) Pig farms mostly adopt individual pen feeding and small-group feeding methods, namely boars, pregnant sows, and lactating sows are raised in individual pens; piglets, growing pigs, and fattening pigs are raised by litter as the feeding unit, and replacement gilts are raised in groups of 3-5. Manual feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply. Pig house floors are fully slatted or partially slatted, and water flushing manure removal is mostly implemented. In recent years, some European countries have begun to adopt a completely new housed loose-raising process, namely except for boars and lactating sows, all are raised in groups by unit according to the process flow, and the group size depends on the scale, ranging from 50 to 200 head. Domestic research and practice in this area also began in the late 1990s. This process fully considers the biological characteristics and behavioral needs of pigs. Pig beds, pig toilets, scratching posts, biting chains, toy boxes, shower facilities, etc. are installed in the house, and automatic feeding systems and automatic drinking systems are used, allowing the pig herd to self-manage.
7. Herd structure and herd turnover
For any livestock farm, after clarifying the production nature, scale, production process, and corresponding various parameters, the types of herds and their feeding days can be determined, the herd can be divided into several stages, and then the number on hand at each stage can be calculated to determine the herd structure composition.
The cattle herd structure of a dairy farm is generally adult cows accounting for 50%-60%, replacement heifers 8%-12%, cows under 2 years of age 10%-15%, and cows under 1 year of age 12%-18%; breeding bulls 2% or less, or not raised. Among adult cows, first- and second-parity cows account for 35%, third-, fourth-, and fifth-parity cows account for 45%, and sixth-parity and above account for 20%; if production is balanced throughout the year, 80% of cows are lactating and 20% are dry.
According to the composition of livestock and poultry and the functional relationships among various types of livestock and poultry, corresponding production plans and turnover flows can be formulated. To express the herd composition and turnover process more vividly, the types and quantities of livestock houses can be determined according to the prescribed process flow and reproductive rhythm, combined with site conditions, management quotas, equipment specifications, etc., and drawn into a turnover flow chart. For example: for a commercial pig farm selling 10,000 head annually, using a 7 d reproductive rhythm and a five-stage feeding process, the number of units in each process stage and the number of head per unit (that is, the number of head moved each week) can be determined, thereby calculating the number on hand of various pigs and the total inventory
Another example: for a commercial laying hen farm with 100,000 cage places, one batch of laying hens is culled every 1.5 months. Assuming the feeding days plus disinfection days for brooding, rearing, and adult chickens are 2 d, 104 d, and 416 d respectively, then the time occupied by the adult chicken house for raising one batch of adult chickens is exactly the time for the brooding house to raise 8 batches of brooded chicks and the rearing chicken house to raise 4 batches of reared chickens. Therefore, 8 adult chicken houses, 2 rearing chicken houses, and 1 brooding chicken house can be set up.
III. Livestock Farm Engineering Process Design
Purpose of livestock farm engineering process design:
1. Key points in livestock farm engineering process design: Large-scale livestock production has high stocking density, strict technical specifications, and implements enterprise management. In order for the livestock farm to have good benefits, attention should be paid during engineering process design to:
(1) Land area Although our country has a large land area, arable land is limited, and the available arable land per capita is less than 0.1 hm2. Therefore, site selection planning and construction of newly built livestock and poultry farms should fully consider saving land, not occupying good farmland, not occupying or occupying as little arable land as possible, and making more use of sandy wasteland, old river channels, hillside land, etc.
(2) Energy-saving awareness Although modern livestock and poultry production cannot do without electricity, good design can greatly save electricity. For example, whether an intensive farm uses natural ventilation and natural lighting can make its electricity consumption differ by 10-20 times. Taking a 200,000-bird laying hen farm as an example, the average annual electricity consumption per hen place is 7-10 kW•h for fully enclosed chicken houses, 0.6 kW•h for fully open chicken houses, and 2-5 kW•h for semi-open chicken houses depending on the degree of openness. Another example: in enclosed chicken houses, changing transverse ventilation to longitudinal ventilation and replacing industrial fans with agricultural fans can save 40%-70% electricity. It can be seen that establishing this viewpoint in livestock farm engineering process design is very necessary.
(3) Animal needs Treat animals well and treat life well. From production processes to facilities and equipment, the biological characteristics and behavioral needs of animals should be fully considered, and animal welfare should be put into practice.
(4) Human-machine engineering studies how to make the design of the working environment and machinery and equipment conform to human physiological and psychological requirements without exceeding the range that human abilities and senses can adapt to. Most of the equipment in large chicken farms in our country is imported and does not take into account the physical characteristics of Chinese people such as height and national conditions, and needs active improvement to make it suitable for China.
(5) Cleaner production Large-scale livestock and poultry production inevitably brings large amounts of manure, sewage, and other livestock production waste, thereby causing environmental pollution. In overall planning, the living area, production area, and pollution area must be clearly separated. From the very beginning of farm construction, environmental protection issues must be handled well. The "three simultaneities" environmental protection requirements must be strictly implemented. In design, construction, and production, effective treatment and utilization plans and related supporting measures must be provided for the "three wastes," and manure and waste must undergo harmless treatment so that waste is turned into treasure.
(6) Engineering disease prevention While implementing normal disease prevention procedures, use the terrain and topography of the site for isolation and greening to ensure environmental self-purification. Adopting good engineering disease prevention means can effectively prevent cross-infection.
2. Main contents of engineering process design
Livestock production, unlike ordinary factories (living things), has its own process flow, environmental requirements, and building equipment. These belong to the engineering inputs of the breeding industry and cover the three aspects of capital, energy, and technology. Good engineering supporting technology can fully tap the genetic potential of superior breeds, improve the utilization rate of feed nutrients, and can also fully exploit the comprehensive prevention and control effect of engineering disease prevention, greatly reducing the incidence of disease. Therefore, when carrying out engineering process design, it is necessary, according to the feeding scale, feeding methods, feeding management quotas, environmental parameters, etc. proposed by the production process, to carefully scrutinize the relevant engineering facilities and equipment to ensure the feasibility and rationality of the engineering technology. On this basis, determine the types and quantities of various livestock and poultry houses, select the building forms and construction standards of livestock and poultry houses, and determine the basic dimensions of the floor plan and section drawings of individual buildings and livestock house environmental control.
(1) Types and quantities of livestock houses The types and quantities of livestock and poultry houses are determined based on calculations of herd composition, days occupying pens, feeding methods, stocking density, and labor quotas in the production process flow, and by comprehensively considering site, equipment specifications, and other conditions. They can be calculated based on the herd turnover flow chart and the total equipment assembly parameters for cages and pens.
(2) Floor plan and section dimensions of livestock houses
1) Floor plan dimensions include dimensions in both length and width directions. The design steps are: select the building form; determine the dimensions and arrangement of livestock and poultry pens and equipment; determine the dimensions and layout of various management passages; determine the dimensions of manure and sewage ditches and the layout and dimensions of the drainage system; determine the positions and dimensions of ancillary rooms and facilities; determine the length of the livestock and poultry house according to the feeding scale, feeding management quotas, etc., and by comprehensively considering the terrain. The influence of the above factors on the floor plan dimensions of livestock houses can be summarized in Figure 7-6.
2) Section dimensions The section drawing dimensions are mainly determined according to the special requirements of the production process, including the height difference between indoors and outdoors, the elevation and slope of the indoor floor and manure ditches, equipment height, the elevation of the eaves or the bottom of the roof truss, and the elevations of the upper and lower eaves of windows, etc., to provide a basis for architectural design; if there are no special requirements, they are considered later in the construction drawing design.
3) Building forms of livestock and poultry houses Livestock house building forms used to be usually brick-concrete structures, designed mainly with reference to industrial and civil construction codes. After the 1980s, many building forms appeared, such as simple energy-saving open-type livestock and poultry houses, greenhouse-style livestock houses, arch-slab structure livestock houses, composite polystyrene board assembled livestock houses, passive solar pig houses, and vegetable-livestock complementary livestock houses. Compared with enclosed houses, simple energy-saving open-type livestock houses have advantages such as low cost and significant energy-saving effects. Infrastructure costs are reduced by more than half, and electricity use is only 1/10-1/15 that of enclosed houses. In recent years, new types of livestock and poultry house buildings such as open-type closable livestock houses and large multi-span chicken houses with natural roof lighting have further diversified the forms of livestock and poultry house buildings. They not only combine the characteristics of open houses and enclosed houses, but are also more conducive to saving land and funds and reducing operating costs, and have played a very good role in promoting modern livestock production. Because our country's livestock and poultry house building facilities still lack standardization and normalization research, standardized designs matching certain engineering processes have not been formed. In particular, there are many problems in the application of new materials, new processes, and new technologies in livestock house construction. Engineering technology is not in place, and related technical facilities are not supporting, so there is a relatively large gap with developed countries, and some forms of livestock houses are currently difficult to promote and apply on a large scale. Therefore, the selection of livestock house building forms should adapt to local conditions, aim at energy saving and high efficiency, and should not blindly seek new types and high grades.
(3) Equipment selection Feeding equipment is a very important part of livestock engineering design. According to the finalized breeding process requirements determined by research, supporting should be achieved as much as possible. Livestock farm equipment mainly includes feeding equipment (pens, cages, livestock beds, floors, etc.), feeding and drinking equipment, manure removal equipment, ventilation equipment, heating and cooling equipment, lighting equipment, automatic environmental control equipment, etc. (see Chapter 9 for details). Selection should consider the following aspects:
1) Biological characteristics and behavioral needs of livestock and poultry and their requirements for the environment;
2) Feeding, feeding, drinking, manure removal, and other feeding management methods determined by the production process;
3) Environmental regulation methods such as ventilation, heating, cooling, and lighting of livestock houses;
4) Relevant parameters provided by equipment manufacturers and the performance-price ratio of the equipment.
5) Equipment selection and supporting.
After carefully selecting and investigating the equipment, the total investment in the whole farm's equipment, power configuration, fuel consumption, etc. should also be calculated separately.
(4) Livestock house environmental control technology The environmental control technology plan in engineering process design is based on the principles of economy, safety, and applicability, and seeks ways to use engineering technology to meet the environmental parameters proposed by the production process. This includes environmental factors such as lighting, temperature, humidity, air speed, and harmful gases in the farm area and inside the houses. Livestock and poultry environmental control technology is the core of livestock engineering technology, mainly including the determination of ventilation methods and ventilation volume; the selection of insulation and heat preservation materials; the calculation of lighting methods and lighting amounts, etc. (see Chapter 8).
(5) Engineering disease prevention A strict sanitation and disease prevention system is the key to ensuring the smooth progress of livestock production. Livestock production must effectively implement the policy of "prevention first, prevention more important than treatment," and strictly implement the "Regulations on the Prevention of Livestock and Poultry Diseases" issued by the State Council and the "Implementation Rules for the Regulations on the Prevention of Livestock and Poultry Diseases" formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture. During process design, in accordance with disease prevention requirements, sanitation and disease prevention should be comprehensively strengthened and explained in detail from many aspects such as site selection, farm area planning, building layout, greening, production process, environmental management, and manure and sewage treatment. Related sanitation and disease prevention facilities and equipment configurations such as disinfection changing and shower rooms, isolation houses, veterinary rooms, loading and unloading platforms, and disinfection pools should be as reasonable and complete as possible, and should be guaranteed to operate conveniently and normally in production.
(6) Manure and sewage treatment and utilization technology Livestock farm manure and sewage treatment and utilization technology is an issue related to the sustainable development of livestock farms and even the entire agricultural production, and is also a relatively prominent issue faced worldwide. It should be included in planning and design; see Chapter 11.
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Quite a good post, thank you, OP.
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You're welcome, as long as you learned something
Section 1 Selection of a Livestock Farm Site
A livestock farm is the place where livestock live and production takes place. It affects the normal operation of the farm's production and its future prospects for development. The selection of a livestock farm site should be carried out based on two aspects: on one hand, analysis and study based on local natural conditions (topography, terrain, water sources, soil, etc.); on the other hand, investigation and interviews based on local socioeconomic conditions (residential areas, transportation, power, labor, etc.), so as to correctly select the site and avoid discovering after the farm is built that it is unsuitable and cannot be changed, causing great damage to production.
1. Topography and Terrain
1. Topography
(1) Refers to the form, size and surface features of the site.
(2) Requirements: open and neat. It should not be too long and narrow, and there should not be too many corners, otherwise it will affect the reasonable layout of buildings; if the boundary line of the livestock farm is stretched long, it is not conducive to epidemic prevention, and at the same time, the feeding routes are lengthened, mechanization is difficult to achieve, and the effectively usable area is not much.
2. Terrain
(1) Refers to the undulating condition of the site.
(2) Requirements: high and dry terrain. It should be above the historical flood line, and its groundwater level should be below 2 m. This can ensure good drainage, keep the air environment dry and warm, help livestock regulate body temperature, and reduce the chance of disease.
Low-lying and damp land is not good for livestock, but the livestock farm should also not be chosen on a prominent hilltop, because in winter the wind speed is too high there and it affects the insulation of the livestock barns.
Sunny orientation, so that livestock are frequently exposed to sunlight, promotes Ca and P metabolism in the body and makes the bones sturdy.
The ground of the livestock farm should be flat with a slight slope to facilitate drainage. The ideal ground slope is 2-5%, and the maximum should not exceed 25%. If the hillside slope is large, mountain floods often form during heavy rain, which is not safe enough for livestock; when building livestock barns, construction is difficult, investment is large, and feeding management and transportation are inconvenient.
Land area of the livestock farm. Generally, the larger the scale of an industrial livestock farm, the easier it is to adopt advanced technology and equipment, the more economically land and buildings can be used, and the more management personnel can be reduced. At present, China still has investment problems and technical problems. The scale of livestock farms is not yet large enough, but both the building area and land area indices are much larger than foreign indices, because foreign livestock farms develop not only toward single-story multi-span but also toward multi-story. This can effectively save land, and also helps reduce the length of pipelines and roads, facilitating development toward mechanization and automation. Generally, multi-story construction can save at least more than 100% compared with single-story construction. Of course, multi-story buildings still have some problems, such as vertical transportation, structural treatment, and construction.
For example, in Korea, the land area per fattened pig produced each year is 2-6 sq m, and the building area is 0.7-1 sq m; in Italy, the land area per fattened pig produced is 2-3 sq m, and the building area is 0.8-0.9 sq m.
China currently still has no quota standard for livestock farm land area. Soviet materials are introduced here for reference.
Livestock type Number of head Area (mu)
Dairy cattle 100 30.00
Foundation sows 100 42.00
Fattening pigs 100 4.5
Sheep 100 3.0
Poultry 10000 60-70
20000 105-120
30000 150-180
The building land area depends on the farm's management direction and tasks. Cattle, pig and sheep farms generally use 10-12% of the total site area, and breeding poultry farms can be calculated at 18-20%.
2. Water source (types, advantages and disadvantages, conditions) (described in Chapter 5)
Sufficient water quantity, good water quality, convenient to draw and use, easy to protect
3. Soil (types, requirements) (described in Chapter 5)
1. The soil is required not to have been polluted.
2. There should be no geochemical environmental endemic diseases.
3. Land with a high groundwater level and strong swampiness cannot be used for building a farm.
4. Sandy loam soil is best for building a farm: good water permeability and air permeability, small water-holding capacity and hygroscopicity, weak capillary action, low thermal conductivity, and good insulation.
4. Social connections
(1) Selection of geographical location
1. Relationship with residential areas
Because a livestock farm is a source of pollution, it should be chosen downwind of residential areas and at a lower location than the residential area, but it should be away from the residential area's sewage outlet, and even more should not be chosen downwind of chemical plants, slaughterhouses, tanneries and other enterprises that easily cause environmental pollution. The distance between the farm and residential areas should be more than 200 m, and the distance between residents and large livestock farms should be more than 1500 m.
2. Transportation
A livestock farm should be built in a place with convenient transportation, but the distance from major highways should be at least 100-300 m. If there is a wall, it can be shortened to about 50 m.
3. Good power supply conditions
(2) Cultural and living conditions
(3) Environmental protection conditions
It is necessary to consider whether the surrounding area has the conditions to handle livestock farm waste without causing environmental pollution in nearby areas. The scale of the livestock farm must be compatible with the utilization of waste in the area where it is built.
Section 2 Zoning Planning and Public Health Facilities of Livestock Farms
1. Zoning planning of livestock farms
Usually divided into three functional zones
Production zone (livestock barns: feed storage, processing and preparation buildings).
Management zone (buildings related to management, livestock product processing and storage buildings, and workers' living welfare buildings and facilities).
Sick livestock management zone (veterinary room, isolation room)
When carrying out zoning planning for a livestock farm, as with site selection, the first consideration should be the health of people, livestock and poultry, so as to establish the best production connections and sanitation and epidemic prevention conditions, reasonably arrange the location of each zone, and consider terrain and prevailing wind direction for reasonable zoning. This is usually as shown in the figure below.
2. Reasonable layout of livestock farm buildings
Principles: conducive to ventilation, wind intake, epidemic prevention and the implementation of mechanization.
(1) Layout types
1. Compact type: the distances among various livestock barns and between them and other buildings are relatively small, for example, in a pig farm only an exercise yard is set between two buildings and there is no walkway.
Advantages: in this layout, the livestock barns are very dense and compact, the land area is small, and equipment investment is relatively low.
Small livestock farms choose the small compact type, while large modern livestock farms tend to choose the dispersed type.
2. Dispersed type: the spacing between livestock barns is relatively large; between two buildings, in addition to an exercise yard, there are also roads, or a certain distance is used as a green belt.
Advantages: better ventilation and epidemic prevention. Disadvantages: relatively large land area and large investment.
(2) Location
According to production stages, barns for dams and young livestock should be close to each other, barns for male livestock should be in a quiet place for production, production herds should be in different sections and raised by zone, and breeding livestock and young livestock should be upwind.
They should be reasonably selected according to the specific conditions of the site and by following the sanitation requirements of zoning planning. In addition to considering terrain and wind direction, a certain sanitary spacing should also be maintained.
Single-operation and specialized production. To ensure epidemic prevention safety, breeding livestock, young livestock and production herds should be separated and placed in different sections. Breeding herds and young livestock herds should be in zones that are relatively safe for epidemic prevention, that is, upwind. If it is a comprehensive management farm, sub-areas must be divided within the same production zone for layout, and they must not be mixed and interlaced. A distance of no less than 200 m must be maintained between breeding herds and commercial herds, and the sanitary spacing between livestock barns of different species should not be less than 50 m.
(3) Orientation and direction
For south-facing livestock barns, because the solar altitude angle changes with the seasons, in winter the solar altitude angle is smaller and sunlight penetrates deeper into the barn, which is beneficial to insulation; in summer the solar altitude angle is larger, and the opposite is true. Therefore, south-facing barns are warm in winter and cool in summer.
Orientation is also related to ventilation. China's geographical location is in the southeast monsoon region of Asia. In summer the southeast wind prevails, and in winter the northeast wind or northwest wind prevails. Therefore, livestock barns facing south are conducive to summer ventilation and prevent the invasion of cold winter winds. It is generally believed that south by east or west 15-30 degrees is allowable. In hot southern regions, to avoid sunlight, west-facing orientations should be avoided as much as possible, and the best orientation is south by east 10º.
(4) Arrangement method
Considering that buildings should be configured as compactly as possible to ensure the shortest transportation, power supply, water supply and implementation of mechanization, roads should be well organized and livestock barns should be arranged in parallel and neatly. When arranged in one row, those needing the most feed should be concentrated in the center and close to the feed preparation room; when arranged in two rows, they should be set in the first building of each row.
(5) Spacing
The spacing of livestock barns should be considered from lighting, ventilation, and sanitation and epidemic prevention.
1. Lighting
To ensure that each livestock barn can obtain sufficient sunlight in winter, it is determined according to the solar altitude angle on the winter solstice.
tgα=h/x x=h/tgα x=1.28h
Generally, the required spacing should be 1.5-2 times the barn height.
2. From the perspective of ventilation, it depends on the ventilation method
Mechanical ventilation: the spacing is 1-1.5 times the barn height;
Natural ventilation: if the long axis of the livestock barn is perpendicular to the main summer wind direction, the rear livestock barns are blocked by the front row and the ventilation effect is poor. According to airflow curves, after airflow encounters an obstacle and is blocked, it rises and moves forward over the obstacle. It must travel a distance 4-5 times the height of the obstacle before it can return to its original state. But in reality such a large distance is impossible. If the long axis of the livestock barn forms a certain angle with the main summer wind direction, the distance can be reduced.
3. From the perspective of sanitation and epidemic prevention, China still has no specific regulations on the sanitary spacing of livestock barns. According to Soviet materials, it is 30 m for livestock of the same species and 50 m for livestock of different species; the fire prevention spacing is generally 12-30 m; the manure storage site should maintain 200 m from residential houses in residential areas and 100 m from livestock barns; the sanitary spacing can be reduced to 50 m if a wall is set. It can thus be seen that the sanitary spacing between livestock barns cannot be considered simply from the perspective of saving land; it must be determined comprehensively by fire prevention, epidemic prevention, ventilation and lighting. To ensure winter lighting, it is required that the distance between a livestock barn and its adjacent buildings or trees must not be less than 2 times the height of the buildings or trees. Therefore, it is reasonable for the sanitary spacing between livestock barns to be no less than 20 m.
(6) Road organization
Requirements: roads should be short and straight to ensure the shortest transportation, power supply and water supply routes and reduce investment. The main road width is 5.5-6.5 m, and the branch road width is 2-3.5 m. The main road is connected to off-farm transportation routes, and branch roads are connected to livestock barns, feed warehouses, product warehouses, veterinary buildings, manure storage sites, etc.
The road surface should be solid and have good drainage (with a certain curvature). Road facilities should not hinder drainage within the farm, and drainage ditches should also be set on both sides of the roads.
Transportation on livestock and poultry farms is very busy. Taking a 100,000-layer hen farm as an example, 12-13 T of feed is needed every day, and more chicken manure is transported out, along with 3000-4500 kg of eggs. Pig farms and dairy farms have even larger transportation volumes. For epidemic prevention, roads should be divided in terms of function. Within the farm, roads for transporting feed and livestock products (clean roads) should be separated from roads for transporting manure (dirty roads), and cross-use is not allowed.
(7) Setting up livestock exercise yards
Outdoor exercise yards should be chosen in a place sheltered from the wind and facing the sun. Generally, the spacing between livestock barns is used (pigs, chickens), and they can also be set up in relatively open places within the farm (cattle).
The exercise yard should be flat with a slight slope to facilitate drainage and maintain dryness. A fence should be set around it, with the following heights:
Horse 1.6 m Sheep 1.1 m Chicken 1.8 m
Cattle 1.2 m Pig 1.1 m
On one side of the exercise yard, trees should be planted, and drainage ditches should be set outside the exercise yard fence.
Reference area of outdoor exercise yard per head of livestock: sq m
Adult dairy cow 20 Young cattle 15
Sow with piglets 12-15 Breeding boar 30
Piglets aged 2-6 months 4-7 Fattening pig 5 Sheep 4
3. Public health facilities
(1) Farm boundary and zone boundary
The boundaries of a livestock farm should be clearly defined. A relatively high wall or a sturdy epidemic prevention ditch should be built around it to prevent off-farm personnel and other animals from entering the farm area and spreading disease. Water should be kept in the ditch.
Each zone within the farm should be provided with walls or small epidemic prevention ditches, and shelter forest belts should be planted.
At the main gate of the livestock farm and the entrances of each zone, corresponding disinfection facilities should be set up, such as vehicle disinfection pools and foot disinfection troughs for people.
(2) Water supply and drainage of livestock farms
Water consumption of the farm
1. Domestic water for people: calculated at 20-40 liters per person per day
2. Livestock water use: water requirements of various livestock
In order to ensure water use regularly and fully, when calculating farm water consumption and carrying out design and construction, it must be calculated according to the maximum consumption within a unit of time.
Water supply methods
1. Decentralized water supply
This means that each water use point directly draws water in a decentralized manner from various water sources (wells, rivers, lakes, ponds, etc.).
2. Centralized water supply: namely tap water.
(3) Drainage facilities of livestock farms
The drainage system within the farm is mostly set on both sides of various roads and around livestock exercise yards. Sloped drainage ditches are generally used. If square open ditches are used, the deepest point should not exceed 30 cm, the ditch bottom should have a slope of 1-2%, and the upper opening width should be 30-60 cm. For concealed ditch drainage systems, if it exceeds 200 m, sedimentation wells should be added, and sedimentation wells should be at least more than 200 m away from water sources.
(4) Manure storage facilities of the farm
When manure and urine are separated, manure is stored in solid form. The manure storage site should be placed downwind of the production zone, maintain a sanitary spacing of 200 m from residences and 100 m from livestock barns (it can be reduced to 50 m if there is a wall). The manure storage tank is generally 1 m deep, 9-10 m wide and 30-50 m long. The manure storage tank area required per head of livestock is calculated on the basis of storage for 6 months and a stacking height of 1.5 m: cattle 2.5 sq m, horse 2 sq m, sheep or pig 0.4 sq m.
When manure and water are not separated:
Manure water tank: volume, dairy cattle 0.07-0.08 m3 per head per day, pigs (70 kg) 0.004-0.005 m3 per head per day, and it should be 60-90 m away from livestock barns, 150 m away from residential areas, and placed downwind.
Sedimentation tank: standing the manure water in the tank can settle 50-85% of the solid matter. The sedimentation tank should be large and shallow, but its water depth should not be less than 0.6 m, and the maximum depth should not exceed 1.2 m.
Oxidation tank: this is a manure water treatment method that promotes the reproduction of aerobic bacteria to decompose organic solid matter by supplying air into the manure water to provide oxygen, thereby achieving harmless treatment of manure. Solid matter should be prevented from settling as much as possible, so the flow rate of manure water in the tank must be maintained at 0.45-0.60 m/s.
(5) Greening of livestock farms
1. Setting up farm boundary forest belts
Plant mixed forest belts of tall trees and shrubs around the farm boundary, especially on the north and west sides of the farm boundary, where such mixed forest belts should be widened (more than 10 m wide) to play a role in wind protection and sand blocking.
2. Farm area isolation forest belts
Used to separate each zone within the farm and for fire prevention.
3. Greening on both sides of roads inside and outside the farm
Generally 1-2 rows. In lighting areas close to buildings, tree species with excessively dense branches and leaves or excessively tall trees should not be planted, so as not to affect the natural lighting of livestock barns.
4. Shade forest for exercise yards
On the south and west sides of the exercise yard, set up 1-2 rows of shade forest.
Section 3 Livestock Farm Process Design
The nature and scale of the livestock farm;
Production process design: herd composition, production process flow, feeding and management methods;
Livestock farm process design: consumption quotas for water, electricity, feed, etc., labor quotas, selection and configuration of production equipment;
Production indicators, feed consumption standards and other process parameters;
Basic dimensions of livestock housing;
Engineering process design: engineering disease prevention measures;
Environmental control measures;
Farm site layout plan.
I. Basic Principles of Livestock Farm Production Process Design
1. It must be a modern, scientific livestock production enterprise;
2. Through environmental regulation measures, eliminate climate differences between seasons and achieve balanced production throughout the year; adopt engineering and technical means to ensure environmental self-purification and ensure safe production;
3. Establish specialized farms and specialized workshops to achieve specialized production;
4. Livestock housing design should conform to the livestock and poultry production process flow and feeding scale; the number of livestock and poultry at each stage, the number of pens, and equipment should be allocated in proportion, so that livestock housing can be fully utilized as much as possible;
5. Where possible, adopt an all-in-all-out operating mode to cut off the transmission routes of pathogenic microorganisms;
6. Clear division of labor.
II. Content and Methods of Livestock Farm Production Process Design
1. The nature and tasks of the livestock farm
(1) Nature of the livestock farm
According to the breeding system, it is divided into nucleus farms, great-grandparent farms, parent stock farms, and commercial farms.
(2) Tasks of the farm
A: The task of the nucleus farm is to produce matching lines and provide great-grandparent breeding stock, hatching eggs, semen, embryos, etc. to the outside.
B: The task of the great-grandparent farm is to improve breeds, using the great-grandparent products obtained from the nucleus farm and scientific methods to reproduce and cultivate the superior breeds needed by lower-level farms. Usually, cultivating a new breed requires a large amount of capital and a relatively long time, and a certain number of livestock technicians. Modern great-grandparent farms for livestock breeds generally raise 4 lines.
C: The task of the parent stock farm is to use the breeding stock obtained from the great-grandparent farm to produce the breeding stock needed by commercial farms.
D: The commercial farm uses the breeding stock obtained from the parent stock farm to engage specifically in commercial-generation livestock production.
Usually, great-grandparent farms, parent stock farms, and commercial farms often focus on one main business while also operating other types of production activities. For example, while a great-grandparent chicken farm produces parent stock hatching eggs and breeding chickens, it also has branch farms producing some commercial laying hens for the market. To solve the breeding stock needed by the commercial pig farm itself, the nature and tasks of livestock farms
Dairy farms generally do not show a clear distinction, because commercial milk will inevitably be produced during breeding selection. Therefore, they show the dual task of supplying fresh milk and superior breeding cattle to the outside at the same time, but each farm has a different focus; some mainly supply milk, while others focus on breeding superior stock.
2. Scale of the livestock farm
There is still no standardized method for describing the scale of a livestock farm. Some calculate by the number of animals on hand (head or birds), while others calculate by the annual number of commercial livestock and poultry sold. For example, commercial pig farms and broiler and beef cattle farms calculate by annual sales volume; breeding pig farms may also calculate by the number of foundation sows; breeding chicken farms mostly calculate by the number of breeding chicken sets; dairy farms calculate by the number of milking cows, etc.
Types and scale classification of pig farms
Type Annual number of commercial pigs sold Annual number of breeding sows raised
Small farm Less than 5000 Less than 300
Medium farm 5000-10000 300-600
Large farm More than 10000 More than 600
Types and scale of chicken farms (10,000 birds)
Category Large farm Medium farm Small farm
Great-grandparent chicken farm >=1.0 <1.0，≥0.5 <0.5
Breeding chicken farm
Parent stock Layer farm >=3.0 <3.0，≥1.0 <1.0
Broiler farm >=5.0 <5.0，≥1.0 <1.0
Layer farm
Broiler farm >=20.0
≥100.0 <20.0，≥5.0
<100.0，≥50.0 <5.0
<50.0
The determination of the nature and scale of a livestock farm must be based on market demand and must take into account technical level, investment capacity, and various conditions. Breeding livestock and poultry farms should be incorporated into the national or regional breeding system as much as possible; their nature and scale should adapt to national or regional needs and plans, and should be carefully considered when establishing the farm. Blindly pursuing a high level and large scale can easily lead to failure.
3. Livestock production process flow
The determination of the livestock farm production process plan should satisfy the following principles: 1) comply with livestock production technical requirements; 2) benefit livestock farm disease prevention and sanitation requirements; 3) meet the technical requirements for reducing manure and sewage discharge and harmless treatment; 4) save water and energy; 5) be able to increase productivity.
(1) Pig production process flow
It is usually determined according to the reproductive process of pigs. Pig farm production links include sow mating, gestation, farrowing, piglet suckling, rearing, and fattening. Correspondingly, the pig herd is divided into boar herd, breeding sow herd, piglet nursery herd, and growing-fattening herd. The breeding sow herd can further be divided into replacement gilt herd, sows to be mated herd, pregnant sow herd, and farrowing-lactating sow herd. The entire process is carried out in a planned and rhythmic manner according to the flow shown in Figure 7-1
Modern pig farming generally adopts staged feeding and all-in-all-out production processes. Common process flows include the two-stage type, namely open-gestation-lactation to growing-fattening; the three-stage type, namely open-gestation, lactation, to growing-fattening; the four-stage type, namely open-gestation, lactation, piglet nursery, to growing-fattening; and the five-stage type, namely open-gestation, lactation, piglet nursery, rearing, to growing-fattening, etc.
It should be pointed out that in the production process flow, the division of feeding stages is not fixed. For example, in order to strengthen the management of pregnant sows and improve the sow farrowing rate, the open and pregnant sow herd is divided into the open-mating period, early gestation, and late gestation. Lactating piglets are generally weaned at 5 weeks; in order to increase the number of litters per sow per year, some also reduce the weaning time to 4 weeks or 3 weeks. In order to improve lean meat percentage, the fattening period is divided into early fattening and late fattening; in the early period, feeding is ad libitum, and in the late period, feeding is restricted. Because local pig breeds grow slowly, each feeding stage is relatively longer. Breeding pig production generally has no fattening period. In short, the division of feeding stages in the process flow must be determined according to the nature and scale of the pig farm and on the premise of improving productivity.
(2) Chicken production process flow
It is divided according to several periods that a chicken experiences in its life, namely 0-6 weeks of age as the brooding period, 7-20 weeks of age as the rearing period, and 21-76 weeks of age as the laying period. In different periods, because the physiological conditions of chickens differ, there are different requirements for the environment, equipment, feeding management, technical level, and other aspects. In addition, chicken farms of different natures also have different process flows (Figure 7-3). Therefore, chicken farms should establish different types of chicken houses respectively to meet the physiological, behavioral, and production requirements of the flock and maximize the production potential of the flock.
The production processes of laying hens and breeding chickens mainly include one-stage, two-stage, and three-stage feeding models. The one-stage feeding model means that chickens are raised in one chicken house from hatching to market or culling. The two-stage feeding model means that chickens from 0...20 weeks of age are raised in brooding-rearing chicken houses, and after 21 weeks of age they are transferred to laying hen houses until culling. Three-stage feeding means that the brooding stage (0-6 weeks of age) and rearing stage (7-20 weeks of age) in the two-stage feeding are raised separately in brooding houses and rearing houses. Farms with refined management also adopt a four-stage feeding model, namely dividing the laying period into early laying and late laying, but this mainly involves changes in feed formula and management, and generally does not involve transferring chicken houses.
(3) Cattle farm production process flow
In the cattle production process flow, the life of cattle is divided into the calf period (0-6 months of age), young cattle period (7-15 months of age), replacement cattle period (16 months of age to before the first calving), and adult cattle period (from the first parity to culling). The adult cattle period can be further divided according to reproductive stages into gestation, lactation, and dry period. Its cattle herd structure includes calves, growing cattle, replacement heifers, and adult cows. The entire production basically proceeds according to the following process flow:
Newborn calf----(weaned at 2-6 months of age)----sexual maturity at about 1.5 years---body maturity at 2-3 years (first mating or semen collection at 18-24 months of age)---gestation (10 months)---first calving, lactation---2 months after calving, estrus, second mating---dry off 2 months before calving---second calving, lactation---...culling.
In modern dairy production, artificial insemination technology is generally used, and dairy farms generally do not raise bulls. Usually, bull stud stations are established according to certain regions, and breeding bulls are raised in a centralized manner. Replacement bulls are provided by superior breeding cattle farms through strict selection and breeding or introduced from abroad.
Beef cattle production processes are generally divided according to newborn calves (weaned at 2-6 months of age) - young cattle - growing cattle (feeder cattle) - fattening cattle - market. At 8-10 months of age, bulls must be castrated.
4. Main process parameters
Production process parameters are an important basis for the production capacity, technical level, feed consumption, and corresponding facilities of modern livestock farms. Usually, these process parameters are also the production indicators and quota management standards after the livestock farm is put into operation. Whether the parameters are correct or not will have a great impact on the entire design and the organization of the production flow. For this reason, the parameters must be repeatedly scrutinized and carefully determined.
(1) Main process parameters of pig farms
The process parameters of large-scale pig farms mainly consider pig herd structure, reproductive cycle, breeding pig production indicators, other pig herd production indicators, etc. Appendix Table 1 shows the process parameters of a 10,000-head pig farm for reference in design.
(2) Main process parameters of chicken farms
Chicken farm process parameters are mainly determined according to the type and nature of the chicken farm, chicken breed, flock structure, feeding and management conditions, technical and management level, etc. The main process parameters of chicken farms can generally refer to Appendix Table 2.
(3) Main process parameters of cattle farms
Cattle farm process parameters mainly include the division of the cattle herd, number of feeding days, mating method, male-to-female ratio, years of utilization, production performance indicators, and feed quotas, etc. See Appendix Table 3.
5. Various environmental parameters
In process design, indoor environmental parameters and standards such as temperature, humidity, ventilation volume, air speed, lighting time and intensity, harmful gas concentration, dust content, and microbial content should be provided. For relevant content, see other chapters of this book.
6. Feeding methods
(1) Chicken feeding methods
They can be divided into cage raising, raised wire-floor raising, partial raised wire-floor raising, and floor litter raising. Breeding chicken production generally adopts a two-stage or three-stage process model, using floor raising or partial raised wire-floor raising or different forms of cage raising. Mechanical or manual feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply, manual egg collection, and centralized manure removal. Laying hens adopt a three-stage feeding method, commonly using full-period cage raising, mechanical or manual feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply, manual or mechanical egg collection, and staged manure removal. Broiler farms adopt "all-in-all-out" and a one-stage feeding model, with floor deep litter raising or raised wire-floor raising or cage raising. Mechanical feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply, and centralized manure removal. As to which feeding method the chicken farm adopts, the flock size, whether laying hens and breeding chickens use 1 or 2 laying cycles, and the market and culling age of the flock, etc., must be clarified during design in order to determine the number and area of various chicken houses.
(2) Dairy cattle feeding methods
Generally, they can be divided into tie-stall feeding, stanchion feeding, and loose housing. Newborn calves are often raised in individual calf hutches. However, it should be noted that loose housing can only be implemented when a centralized milking parlor is designed.
Relatively speaking, loose housing management is more extensive and can better meet the behavioral and welfare needs of cattle, but milking, treatment, and other operations cannot be carried out inside the cattle house; tie-stall feeding facilitates refined management and can use a fixed pipeline milking system to milk directly in the house. Beef cattle mainly have three feeding methods: grazing, semi-housed feeding, and fully housed feeding. Grazing feeding is suitable for grassland areas with good forage conditions, and generally requires simple cattle sheds, drinking troughs, and supplementary feeding troughs. Fully housed feeding is mainly used for beef cattle without grazing conditions or for late-stage fattening of beef cattle with grazing conditions, or for beef cattle production to improve production efficiency. Feed troughs, water troughs, and hay racks are provided in fixed cattle houses and exercise yards. Semi-housed feeding falls between the two; it can both make full use of forage resources and allow cattle to enter the cattle house after returning from grazing to supplement with hay, silage, and concentrate.
(3) Pig farms mostly adopt individual pen feeding and small-group feeding methods, namely boars, pregnant sows, and lactating sows are raised in individual pens; piglets, growing pigs, and fattening pigs are raised by litter as the feeding unit, and replacement gilts are raised in groups of 3-5. Manual feeding, automatic drinkers for water supply. Pig house floors are fully slatted or partially slatted, and water flushing manure removal is mostly implemented. In recent years, some European countries have begun to adopt a completely new housed loose-raising process, namely except for boars and lactating sows, all are raised in groups by unit according to the process flow, and the group size depends on the scale, ranging from 50 to 200 head. Domestic research and practice in this area also began in the late 1990s. This process fully considers the biological characteristics and behavioral needs of pigs. Pig beds, pig toilets, scratching posts, biting chains, toy boxes, shower facilities, etc. are installed in the house, and automatic feeding systems and automatic drinking systems are used, allowing the pig herd to self-manage.
7. Herd structure and herd turnover
For any livestock farm, after clarifying the production nature, scale, production process, and corresponding various parameters, the types of herds and their feeding days can be determined, the herd can be divided into several stages, and then the number on hand at each stage can be calculated to determine the herd structure composition.
The cattle herd structure of a dairy farm is generally adult cows accounting for 50%-60%, replacement heifers 8%-12%, cows under 2 years of age 10%-15%, and cows under 1 year of age 12%-18%; breeding bulls 2% or less, or not raised. Among adult cows, first- and second-parity cows account for 35%, third-, fourth-, and fifth-parity cows account for 45%, and sixth-parity and above account for 20%; if production is balanced throughout the year, 80% of cows are lactating and 20% are dry.
According to the composition of livestock and poultry and the functional relationships among various types of livestock and poultry, corresponding production plans and turnover flows can be formulated. To express the herd composition and turnover process more vividly, the types and quantities of livestock houses can be determined according to the prescribed process flow and reproductive rhythm, combined with site conditions, management quotas, equipment specifications, etc., and drawn into a turnover flow chart. For example: for a commercial pig farm selling 10,000 head annually, using a 7 d reproductive rhythm and a five-stage feeding process, the number of units in each process stage and the number of head per unit (that is, the number of head moved each week) can be determined, thereby calculating the number on hand of various pigs and the total inventory
Another example: for a commercial laying hen farm with 100,000 cage places, one batch of laying hens is culled every 1.5 months. Assuming the feeding days plus disinfection days for brooding, rearing, and adult chickens are 2 d, 104 d, and 416 d respectively, then the time occupied by the adult chicken house for raising one batch of adult chickens is exactly the time for the brooding house to raise 8 batches of brooded chicks and the rearing chicken house to raise 4 batches of reared chickens. Therefore, 8 adult chicken houses, 2 rearing chicken houses, and 1 brooding chicken house can be set up.
III. Livestock Farm Engineering Process Design
Purpose of livestock farm engineering process design:
1. Key points in livestock farm engineering process design: Large-scale livestock production has high stocking density, strict technical specifications, and implements enterprise management. In order for the livestock farm to have good benefits, attention should be paid during engineering process design to:
(1) Land area Although our country has a large land area, arable land is limited, and the available arable land per capita is less than 0.1 hm2. Therefore, site selection planning and construction of newly built livestock and poultry farms should fully consider saving land, not occupying good farmland, not occupying or occupying as little arable land as possible, and making more use of sandy wasteland, old river channels, hillside land, etc.
(2) Energy-saving awareness Although modern livestock and poultry production cannot do without electricity, good design can greatly save electricity. For example, whether an intensive farm uses natural ventilation and natural lighting can make its electricity consumption differ by 10-20 times. Taking a 200,000-bird laying hen farm as an example, the average annual electricity consumption per hen place is 7-10 kW•h for fully enclosed chicken houses, 0.6 kW•h for fully open chicken houses, and 2-5 kW•h for semi-open chicken houses depending on the degree of openness. Another example: in enclosed chicken houses, changing transverse ventilation to longitudinal ventilation and replacing industrial fans with agricultural fans can save 40%-70% electricity. It can be seen that establishing this viewpoint in livestock farm engineering process design is very necessary.
(3) Animal needs Treat animals well and treat life well. From production processes to facilities and equipment, the biological characteristics and behavioral needs of animals should be fully considered, and animal welfare should be put into practice.
(4) Human-machine engineering studies how to make the design of the working environment and machinery and equipment conform to human physiological and psychological requirements without exceeding the range that human abilities and senses can adapt to. Most of the equipment in large chicken farms in our country is imported and does not take into account the physical characteristics of Chinese people such as height and national conditions, and needs active improvement to make it suitable for China.
(5) Cleaner production Large-scale livestock and poultry production inevitably brings large amounts of manure, sewage, and other livestock production waste, thereby causing environmental pollution. In overall planning, the living area, production area, and pollution area must be clearly separated. From the very beginning of farm construction, environmental protection issues must be handled well. The "three simultaneities" environmental protection requirements must be strictly implemented. In design, construction, and production, effective treatment and utilization plans and related supporting measures must be provided for the "three wastes," and manure and waste must undergo harmless treatment so that waste is turned into treasure.
(6) Engineering disease prevention While implementing normal disease prevention procedures, use the terrain and topography of the site for isolation and greening to ensure environmental self-purification. Adopting good engineering disease prevention means can effectively prevent cross-infection.
2. Main contents of engineering process design
Livestock production, unlike ordinary factories (living things), has its own process flow, environmental requirements, and building equipment. These belong to the engineering inputs of the breeding industry and cover the three aspects of capital, energy, and technology. Good engineering supporting technology can fully tap the genetic potential of superior breeds, improve the utilization rate of feed nutrients, and can also fully exploit the comprehensive prevention and control effect of engineering disease prevention, greatly reducing the incidence of disease. Therefore, when carrying out engineering process design, it is necessary, according to the feeding scale, feeding methods, feeding management quotas, environmental parameters, etc. proposed by the production process, to carefully scrutinize the relevant engineering facilities and equipment to ensure the feasibility and rationality of the engineering technology. On this basis, determine the types and quantities of various livestock and poultry houses, select the building forms and construction standards of livestock and poultry houses, and determine the basic dimensions of the floor plan and section drawings of individual buildings and livestock house environmental control.
(1) Types and quantities of livestock houses The types and quantities of livestock and poultry houses are determined based on calculations of herd composition, days occupying pens, feeding methods, stocking density, and labor quotas in the production process flow, and by comprehensively considering site, equipment specifications, and other conditions. They can be calculated based on the herd turnover flow chart and the total equipment assembly parameters for cages and pens.
(2) Floor plan and section dimensions of livestock houses
1) Floor plan dimensions include dimensions in both length and width directions. The design steps are: select the building form; determine the dimensions and arrangement of livestock and poultry pens and equipment; determine the dimensions and layout of various management passages; determine the dimensions of manure and sewage ditches and the layout and dimensions of the drainage system; determine the positions and dimensions of ancillary rooms and facilities; determine the length of the livestock and poultry house according to the feeding scale, feeding management quotas, etc., and by comprehensively considering the terrain. The influence of the above factors on the floor plan dimensions of livestock houses can be summarized in Figure 7-6.
2) Section dimensions The section drawing dimensions are mainly determined according to the special requirements of the production process, including the height difference between indoors and outdoors, the elevation and slope of the indoor floor and manure ditches, equipment height, the elevation of the eaves or the bottom of the roof truss, and the elevations of the upper and lower eaves of windows, etc., to provide a basis for architectural design; if there are no special requirements, they are considered later in the construction drawing design.
3) Building forms of livestock and poultry houses Livestock house building forms used to be usually brick-concrete structures, designed mainly with reference to industrial and civil construction codes. After the 1980s, many building forms appeared, such as simple energy-saving open-type livestock and poultry houses, greenhouse-style livestock houses, arch-slab structure livestock houses, composite polystyrene board assembled livestock houses, passive solar pig houses, and vegetable-livestock complementary livestock houses. Compared with enclosed houses, simple energy-saving open-type livestock houses have advantages such as low cost and significant energy-saving effects. Infrastructure costs are reduced by more than half, and electricity use is only 1/10-1/15 that of enclosed houses. In recent years, new types of livestock and poultry house buildings such as open-type closable livestock houses and large multi-span chicken houses with natural roof lighting have further diversified the forms of livestock and poultry house buildings. They not only combine the characteristics of open houses and enclosed houses, but are also more conducive to saving land and funds and reducing operating costs, and have played a very good role in promoting modern livestock production. Because our country's livestock and poultry house building facilities still lack standardization and normalization research, standardized designs matching certain engineering processes have not been formed. In particular, there are many problems in the application of new materials, new processes, and new technologies in livestock house construction. Engineering technology is not in place, and related technical facilities are not supporting, so there is a relatively large gap with developed countries, and some forms of livestock houses are currently difficult to promote and apply on a large scale. Therefore, the selection of livestock house building forms should adapt to local conditions, aim at energy saving and high efficiency, and should not blindly seek new types and high grades.
(3) Equipment selection Feeding equipment is a very important part of livestock engineering design. According to the finalized breeding process requirements determined by research, supporting should be achieved as much as possible. Livestock farm equipment mainly includes feeding equipment (pens, cages, livestock beds, floors, etc.), feeding and drinking equipment, manure removal equipment, ventilation equipment, heating and cooling equipment, lighting equipment, automatic environmental control equipment, etc. (see Chapter 9 for details). Selection should consider the following aspects:
1) Biological characteristics and behavioral needs of livestock and poultry and their requirements for the environment;
2) Feeding, feeding, drinking, manure removal, and other feeding management methods determined by the production process;
3) Environmental regulation methods such as ventilation, heating, cooling, and lighting of livestock houses;
4) Relevant parameters provided by equipment manufacturers and the performance-price ratio of the equipment.
5) Equipment selection and supporting.
After carefully selecting and investigating the equipment, the total investment in the whole farm's equipment, power configuration, fuel consumption, etc. should also be calculated separately.
(4) Livestock house environmental control technology The environmental control technology plan in engineering process design is based on the principles of economy, safety, and applicability, and seeks ways to use engineering technology to meet the environmental parameters proposed by the production process. This includes environmental factors such as lighting, temperature, humidity, air speed, and harmful gases in the farm area and inside the houses. Livestock and poultry environmental control technology is the core of livestock engineering technology, mainly including the determination of ventilation methods and ventilation volume; the selection of insulation and heat preservation materials; the calculation of lighting methods and lighting amounts, etc. (see Chapter 8).
(5) Engineering disease prevention A strict sanitation and disease prevention system is the key to ensuring the smooth progress of livestock production. Livestock production must effectively implement the policy of "prevention first, prevention more important than treatment," and strictly implement the "Regulations on the Prevention of Livestock and Poultry Diseases" issued by the State Council and the "Implementation Rules for the Regulations on the Prevention of Livestock and Poultry Diseases" formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture. During process design, in accordance with disease prevention requirements, sanitation and disease prevention should be comprehensively strengthened and explained in detail from many aspects such as site selection, farm area planning, building layout, greening, production process, environmental management, and manure and sewage treatment. Related sanitation and disease prevention facilities and equipment configurations such as disinfection changing and shower rooms, isolation houses, veterinary rooms, loading and unloading platforms, and disinfection pools should be as reasonable and complete as possible, and should be guaranteed to operate conveniently and normally in production.
(6) Manure and sewage treatment and utilization technology Livestock farm manure and sewage treatment and utilization technology is an issue related to the sustainable development of livestock farms and even the entire agricultural production, and is also a relatively prominent issue faced worldwide. It should be included in planning and design; see Chapter 11.
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Quite a good post, thank you, OP.
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You're welcome, as long as you learned something