A min max thermometer is a chicken thermometer, or more specifically, a thermometer to measure the temperature in a chicken house. The temperature of a poultry house is critical when raising broilers – as is the relative humidity – to measure the relative humidity you would use a wet dry thermometer.

Wet dry thermometer

Wet Dry Thermometer

The relative humidity is how much moisture is in the air - if this gets too high, even if the temperature is low, the chickens will die. The correct temperature to heat your chicken house to when you place day old chicks is 32 degrees centigrade. From that temperature you will drop to 21 degrees until the broiler chickens are 21 weeks old. The house should have a relative humidity of never more than 80%

The thermometer needs to be hung at the same height as your chickens – the top layer cages, close to the roof, is an important area – as these are the chickens that will be most affected by humidity and temperature. If your humidity is very high the hens will go off their food and possibly begin to pant (this is also a sign of excessive temperature)

Dealing with high humidity is very difficult. How does one dry the air out – the use of poultry fans will help – a powerful fan will help to dry the air. Winch your curtains all the way down. If your hens are really close together in a layer cage you will really have problems. Over crowding chickens can be the cause of many problems – and in a layer cage the hens cannot move away from each other – so it is difficult for the chickens to cool down. Remember – your temperature may be right but the humidity may be high – it is critical that you have the right tools to measure humidity – and the Wet Dry thermometer is the perfect tool to do this.

Min max thermometer

Min Max Thermometer

A min max thermometer allows you to see what the highest temperature in the broiler chicken was since you last reset the thermometer, and also the lowest temperature. This will help you regulate the heat in your poultry house  or broiler house and better manage the poultry fans, poultry curtains and the gas heater. These are the main tools for controlling temperature in a chicken house.

Chicken thermometers, like the min max thermometer and the wet dry thermometer, are not expensive, and can be considered vital tools for any poultry farming operation. The temperature of a chicken house, whether a layer house or broiler house, is critical in raising a healthy and productive flock. If the temperature for day olds is wrong – the chicks will die. The right temperature must be maintained in a chicken house. A thermometer to measure temperature in a chicken house can be purchased from Chicken Shack Agencies.

Gas heaters are a good solution for warming any chicken house. Whether it is a large broiler house or a small egg laying house a Gasolec brooder is a great piece of poultry equipment. The stainless steel casing and robust design of this poultry heatermake it an ideal heater which will last and last.

Gasolec brooder - gas heater for chickens

Other poultry equipment sold in South Africa by Chicken Shack Agencies includes batch weighers, troughs, bins, chain feeding systems and pan feeding systems – Chicken Shack Agencies offer turn key poultry houses for both egg production and broiler production – from large poultry houses holding upwards 30 000 chickens to the small poultry units for emerging farmers who only need 200- broilers.

Poultry processing machines

Made in South Africa are several brands of poultry processing machines. These machines will take a live broiler to a state where is is packed and portioned and ready to go. The whole processing chain is automatically done – from killing the chickens to getting rid of the feathers. It will also take out the bones and cut the carcass into sell able portions. Small chicken farmers with chicken houses will need to find a slaughter house with slaughtering equipment near them to process their chickens for market – the entry level of setting up a poultry slaughter house with chicken processing equipment is usually way beyond the means of any small poultry farmer. Small chicken farmers with laying houses for egg production will at some stage also need a slaughtering agency to handle their live hens once they are past optimum egg production stage.

Poultry Equipment in small chicken house

Poultry Equipment

Poultry Equipment – everything you need for farming with chickens. Bell drinkers, tube feeders, heaters, chick trays, poultry houses. Finding a good supplier of poultry equipment is essential when dealing with livestock – and with chicken even more so. They require care and attention. Anyone thinking that looking after poultry is an easy thing – needs to thinks again.

Like all businesses they require a lot of your time, a passion and hard work. Passion is the most important, in my opinion. If you have passion then the “hard work” and the “time” are much easier. All poultry houses need curtains to regulate temperature. Although the curtain can be made up and operated without a curtain winching system– it makes for hard work on a large house. A professional house will have a winched curtain using a big gear winch.

Whether you are starting out or are an established farm  – you will need to get the right poultry equipment supplier. If your supplier cannot supply what you need, when you need, your chickens will die. This does not mean that you do not plan ahead or carry good stock -parts etc. Where a good supplier comes in is not when the equipment is sold – but for the next 12 odd years – because this is how long your equipment is going last.

You will need spares, parts, repairs and maintenance to make this happen. A good poultry equipment company will be there when you need them. For new farmers this is even more important – who are you going to phone when your problems happen – and they will – it is the nature of the game – you are dealing with live creatures that will need more care than children. 99% of problems on a poultry farm are due to human error. Whether that be disease, poultry equipment failure or bad weather.  With good planning, and a strictly adhered to set of procedures the chance of failing are slim.

• No attention to detail – the small thing count equally as the big things. A good poultry man will notice the details – because in the details are the seeds of success.
• Lazy – speaks for itself, chickens are hard work!
• Careless – Careless with procedure, with record keeping, with cleanliness.
• Disinterested – Just wants the money, it all starts with passion.

Stick to it if you can – You will make money, no doubt about it. Bizarre spelling of related words – equioment, equipemnt, ewuipment, poltery, poultry equipment,