Structural pellets in the poultry house
Flying is not exactly one of the strengths of chickens because they feel completely at home on the ground. As the chickens sometimes spend a lot of time in the poultry house, the floor must be suitable for them and allow them to scratch and peck naturally. Especially with laying hens, however, it is important that the floor is not smeared and that the nests and their eggs remain clean. Structural pellets used as litter prove to be very suitable in this respect.
Special requirements for poultry
The use of structural pellets in poultry farming has already proven successful on many farms. This is because the pellets used as litter gradually absorb the moisture in the poultry house so that the chickens always have a dry and clean environment. The chickens peck at the pellets scattered on the floor and thereby prevent the floor of the poultry house from becoming smeared by the continuous supply of absorbent material. This not only keeps the chickens’ feet clean, but also the eggs in the nests. The health and performance of the chickens are also helped by the fact that pecking and scratching in the pellet litter significantly reduces feather and toe pecking. All in all, the time and material expenditure involved in using structural pellets is quite low. This is because the pellets can be spread easily by hand or fully automatically.
Pellets do not have to be spread again for several weeks. Compared to conventional straw chaff, for example, a significantly smaller amount of pellets is used and the amount of manure produced is reduced accordingly. This means that only little storage space is required for both the litter material and the manure to be disposed of.
Advantages of structural pellets for poultry
for poultry
- Absorbent litter for improved foot health and clean eggs
- Optimum shed climate due to binding of ammonia
- Easy handling
- Low straw requirement and manure production
- Almost germ-free manipulable material
- Better animal health by avoiding feather pecking
"As the chickens can peck at the pellets all the time, feather pecking problems are also a thing of the past. In this respect, the structural pellets are a good addition to the pecking stones placed in the poultry house.”
"It has been shown that these structural pellets not only significantly improve the hygiene status and health of the poultry, but also bring considerable advantages in terms of labour management".
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