A chicken house must have an east–west orientation, with both the east and west walls constructed without windows. There should be no windows on the sides facing both east and west. This is intended to prevent sun rays from directly hitting the chicken house.
The recommended width should not be more than 25ft or eight metres. However, the height should not be less than 12ft. The wall should be 6ft in height with 2ft covered with either bricks or wood, while 4ft must be covered with wire mesh to allow in enough air. It should also have ventilation windows at a much lower level than those for humans, facing south and north in order for the chicken to get easy access to air.
There are two methods of determining the orientation of a chicken house. One is the use of a campus and the other is the use of a long piece of wood.
However, using a campus may not be feasible with farmers in rural areas, the use of a long piece of wood is recommended. The wood should be about 14ft long. Go to the place where the house will be located and dig a 1ft deep hole.
Put the wood in the hole and then cover it with soil. Observe the shadow of the piece of wood between 4:00pm and 6:00pm and mark the path of the shadow. The shadow should be pointing in the east.
Come back in the morning between 7:00am and 10:00am and mark the shadow again and now it should be pointing in the west. That should give you the orientation of the house.
