A general overview

I thought I'd write up a general overview of how I envision the project. We have a plot of land, I don't yet know how big, and our first step will be to fence the entire thing in. This serves two purposes. It allows the maximum grazing space for the chickens, and reduces the threat of theft. Theft is a big enough problem that we may have to have someone reside at the property, but that will be a question Fred will have to address on site as things move forward. Once the fencing is up we will put up the building. The main section will be roughly 100 to 120 feet long and lined with about 100 nest boxes per side, set up off the floor about a foot and a half. The boxes will be 12 by 13 inches on the interior to accomodate a standard synthetic nest pad the we will bring in from the states. They will last for many years and are washable. Theory says that one nest box for every 4 birds is adequate, so 200 boxes should serve 800 hens. Our long term goal is more like 700 laying hens and 300 birds growing out for slaughter and hen replacement. We envision a final slaughter/sale rate of about 10 birds per day or 300 per month to feed the orphanage and provide enough income to keep the project self sustaining. Really the only recurring cost will be feed, and I'm still working on the cost and availability of that. Eventually there will be battery replacement and perhaps a small backup generator on site to charge the batteries when needed rather than rotating them out for charging. I don't expect to set up a generator until the project is paying for the gas to keep it running since we want this project to require a one time only injection of funds. We will probably have several optional items in the budget, like a generator, that will only be purchased if contributions exceed the minimum budget needed to get the project up and running.

The nest boxes will be built on a raised shelf, as I mentioned, but the shelf will extend about 2 feet towards the middle of the building. This will give a perching/access area for the chickens. Additional perches may be put in the middle of the floor, but aren't a neccessity. Chickens like to roost, but don't need to. In the middle of the floor we will have 4 water lines running the length of the building. These will be PVC pipes drilled and fitted with water nipples from the states. It's an extremely simple system and very inexpensive as well. We will set two lines at the adult bird height, one at a height for the birds coming out of brooding, and one in between. The water system is a very low pressure system and will be gravity fed from a couple tanks. The tanks will have a minimum and maximum level marked on them to maintain proper pressure, and will be filled daily, or as needed. Water will come from a hand pumped well drilled on sight or perhaps have to be transported by truck from the town. I prefer everything to be on site, so as long as we can afford to drill a well we will do it that way. If we can establish the well near the tanks we can put a hose directly to them and simply pump away until we reach the right level. There will also be several feeders made from PVC about 4 inches wide that run the length of the building. We may go with bucket feeders spread around for the smallest birds if they have trouble getting to the main feeders.

There will be a wall with a door separating the big area from the brood/incubation area. This part of the building will be lockable for extra protection and will likely house the water tanks right up against the dividing wall with the pipes passing through the wall to the water lines. Behind the water tanks will be a storage area for the feed and any other stuff that needs to be kept locked up, and behind that will be the secondary brooding area. This is for chicks roughly 1-3 weeks old. It will have a brooder heater in it that can be turned off when the weather is warm enough. It will have LED lighting set to stay on 20 hours per day and constant feed to encourage maximum growth before the birds are turned out to the main area. Behind the secondary brood will be the primary brood for birds 1-2 weeks old. This will be insulated with a very low, hinged seiling to contain the heat. There will be a brooder heater here as well, and LED lighting similar to the secondary chamber. These birds need to be around 90 degrees all the time. A simple thermostat can be put in line with the power to the brooders to turn them off when the weather is warm enough. This will conserve power that is coming off the battery/solar system.

The lockable portion of the building will be symetrical with brooding chambers on each side and a walkway down the middle. The only other part of it will be the incubation area, but this is basically just a shelf as the incubators are self contained. On day 21 of incubation the incubators will be taken off the shelf and moved into the brood chamber for hatching so the birds come out right into the area with feed, water, and heat necessary for them to get a good start. Ideally there will be someone on site for every hatch day to assist the birds into the world.

Eventually, I believe Rev. Fred hopes to move the whole orphanage/school out to the property. This will make it very easy for someone to be on duty to feed, water, and care for the chickens.