Broiler parent stock · 60,000 hens + 6,000 roosters · 4 houses
Broiler breeder (parent stock) farm — Colombia
Illustrative scenario: greenfield parent-stock rearing + laying complex for a Colombian integrator supplying its own hatchery in the Antioquia region. Sourcing covered slat + litter housing, chain feeders for males, pan feeders for females, community nests with egg belts, and separate rearing houses with grading equipment.
Load requirements
Design loads used to size housing, utilities and equipment.
Stocking density
5.5 hens/m² + 10% floor for roosters
Nest capacity
1 nest / 4.5 hens (community)
Peak electrical load
210 kW total
Feed dosing
Sex-separate: 165 g/hen/day, 125 g/rooster/day
Water demand
18 m³/day at peak lay
Photoperiod control
Black-out light-tight housing, 8h→14h step-up
System design choices
Why each subsystem was specified the way it was.
| Area | Choice | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | 2/3 slat + 1/3 litter, community nests along center | Slat area near nests draws hens off litter, cutting floor eggs vs full-litter layout. |
| Male feeding | Elevated chain feeder, rooster-only grill | Prevents females from accessing rooster feed; keeps male body-weight curve on target. |
| Female feeding | Pan feeders on winch, spin-off exclusion | Spin-off pans stop roosters accessing female feed; supports precise feed restriction. |
| Egg handling | Longitudinal belt to central grader + trolley | Manual grading at hatchery is slow; on-farm pre-grading reduces cracked-egg loss in transport. |
| Climate | Cross-tunnel hybrid + evaporative pad (tropical highland) | 1,800 m altitude — mild days, cool nights; hybrid holds 20–24 °C without over-cooling. |
Results
Representative KPIs achieved on projects of this scope.
Hatching eggs / hen housed
172 (65-wk cycle)
Fertility
94.1%
Floor-egg rate
1.8%
Hen mortality (cycle)
6.2%
Feed per hatching egg
395 g
Representative outcomes
- Typical scope: 2 rearing + 2 production houses, 60k hens
- Typical outcome: hatching eggs per hen housed ~172
- Typical outcome: floor-egg rate ~1.8%
Note: This case study is an anonymized reference scenario. Specific client identities, contract values and commercial terms are withheld under NDA. Figures reflect typical outcomes for projects of this scope and are not a guarantee for your project.