By Joshua Kato
A chicken house must have an East-West orientation, with both the east and west walls constructed without any windows. This is intended to prevent sun rays from directly getting into the chicken house.
The recommended width should not be more than 25 feet or eight metres. The length can, however, be as long as you may wish. However, the height should not be less than 12 feet.
The wall should be six feet in height with two feet covered with either bricks or wood while four feet must be covered with wire mesh in order 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, therefore, the use of a long piece of wood is recommended.
The wood should be around 14 feet tall or long. Go to the place where the house will be located and dig a one-foot-deep hole. Put the wood in the hole and then cover it with soil.
Then, observe the shadow of the piece of wood between 4pm and 6pm and clearly mark the path of the shadow. The shadow should be pointing in the east.
Come back in the morning between 7am and 10am and mark the shadow again and now it should be pointing in the west. That should give you the orientation of the house.
