Chicken and Pig Rearing
Senior 3 · Agriculture
Chicken and Pig Rearing
Lesson 1 of 4
25 min
Let's begin
Rwanda's poultry flock roughly doubled in a single year, from about 6.3 million birds in 2024 to about 13.0 million in 2025, while its pigs numbered about 1.23 million (MINAGRI, Annual Report 2024–2025). Most of these animals live in houses that their owners built themselves. A well-built house keeps animals dry, at the right temperature and safe from predators, thieves and disease, and makes cleaning quick. A badly built one turns into a wet, smelly place where animals sicken and die. This lesson sets out the standards for a poultry house and a pigsty, and how to build them.
Definition
Deep-litter system: keeping poultry on a floor covered with a thick layer of dry material (litter) such as wood shavings, rice husks or chopped dry grass, which absorbs droppings.
Brooder: a warm, enclosed area where young chicks are kept for their first weeks, with a heat source.
Pigsty (piggery): a building divided into pens for pigs.
Farrowing: a sow giving birth to piglets. A farrowing pen is designed for this, with guard rails that stop the sow crushing piglets against the wall and a creep area that only piglets can enter.
Stocking density: the floor area allowed per animal, or the number of animals per square metre.
Footbath: a shallow tray of disinfectant at a doorway, through which everyone entering walks.
| Part | Standard (typical values) | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Floor | concrete, raised 15 to 30 cm above the ground outside | dry, rat-proof, easy to clean and disinfect |
| Walls | solid wall about 50 cm high, then strong wire mesh up to the roof; curtains to close in rain and cold | low wall keeps litter in and draughts off the birds; mesh lets air through |
| Width and roof | width up to about 9 m; roof overhang about 60 to 100 cm | narrow houses ventilate naturally; overhang keeps rain out |
| Space (deep litter) | about 4 layers, or 8 to 10 broilers at market weight, per m² | crowding causes heat stress, wet litter, pecking and disease |
| Litter | 5 to 10 cm of dry wood shavings, rice husks or chopped grass | absorbs droppings; must be kept dry and turned |
| Nest boxes (layers) | one per 4 to 5 hens, about 30 cm × 30 cm × 35 cm, dark, raised off the floor | clean eggs, fewer broken or eaten eggs |
| Perches | about 20 to 25 cm of perch per bird, 30 to 35 cm apart | birds roost off the litter at night |
| Feeders and drinkers | enough for all birds to eat and drink at once; raised to the height of the birds' backs | less waste and no birds left out |
Brooding chicks. Day-old chicks cannot keep themselves warm. Keep them in a brooder with a heat source (an electric lamp or a charcoal brooder outside the chick area), at about 32 to 35 °C in the first week, lowering it by about 3 °C each week. Watch the chicks: crowded under the heat means too cold; far from it, with open beaks, means too hot; evenly spread and active means just right.
Figure 13. (a) A deep-litter poultry house in cross-section. (b) A farrowing pen seen from above.
| Part | Standard (typical values) | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Floor | concrete with a rough (not slippery) finish, sloping about 2 to 3% towards a drain | urine and washing water run off; pigs do not slip and injure their legs |
| Walls | strong, about 1 to 1.2 m high, smooth inside | pigs are strong and dig and push; smooth walls are easy to clean |
| Roof and shade | roof over at least the sleeping area; shade, and a wallow or water spray in hot weather | pigs cannot sweat, so they suffer badly from heat |
| Layout | separate sleeping, feeding and dunging areas; dunging area at the low end beside the drain | pigs keep their bed clean if they can; less work cleaning |
| Pens | separate pens for the boar (about 6 to 9 m²), farrowing sow with litter, dry sows, weaners and fatteners (about 1 m² per fattening pig) | each group gets the right space, feed and care; less fighting |
| Farrowing pen | guard rails about 20 to 25 cm from the walls and the floor; a warm creep area for the piglets | the sow cannot lie on the piglets; piglets get warmth and creep feed |
| Equipment | heavy troughs that cannot be tipped over; clean water at all times (nipple drinkers or troughs) | no wasted feed or water; healthy, growing pigs |
| Manure | a covered pit or compost heap, or a biogas digester | manure becomes fertiliser or fuel instead of a source of flies and smells |
Worked example 1: sizing a layer house
Problem. A youth cooperative plans to keep 200 layers on deep litter at 4 birds per m². (a) What floor area is needed? (b) Suggest dimensions if the house is 5 m wide. (c) How many nest boxes are needed at one per 5 hens?
Solution.
Answer: 50 m², for example 10 m by 5 m, with 40 nest boxes.
Worked example 2: the slope of a pen floor
Problem. A pen floor is 3 m long from the sleeping area to the drain, and must slope at 3%. How much lower must the drain end be?
Solution. A slope of 3% means a fall of 3 cm for every 100 cm (1 m) of length.
Answer: the drain end must be 9 cm lower than the sleeping end. A much steeper slope makes pigs slip; a flatter one leaves puddles.
Warning
Common mistakes. (1) Closing a poultry house tight "to keep it warm": ammonia builds up and birds fall ill; ventilate above bird level instead. (2) Crowding too many animals into a house. (3) Smooth, wet concrete in pigsties, which causes leg injuries. (4) No guard rails in a farrowing pen: sows lie on and kill piglets. (5) Building next to the family's house or water source.
Tip
Memory hook for any animal house: "Dry, airy, roomy, safe and clean": drained site and floor, ventilation without draughts, enough space per animal, secure against predators and thieves, and easy to clean.
Access Agriculture: "Housing for pigs (Summary)". Compare the pens shown with the pigsty standards in the table: floor, shade, drainage and separate areas.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the text, the tables, Figure 13 and the worked examples. Space allowances and dimensions are typical values; follow RAB or your veterinary or extension officer's advice.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
