Housing, Fencing and Tethering

The provision of housing and secure, fenced enclosures for small animals is often seen as an expensive luxury in small-scale production systems, but they can often be made largely from materials available on the farm and they serve several, diverse purposes. All livestock should be provided with some form of shelter. Livestock also need to be sheltered from disturbance. Laying hens in particular, need a quiet sheltered spot for egg-laying. If the facilities that you provide are not good enough, for example, a scavenging or backyard hen will nest and lay elsewhere.

Background Shelters and Housing Fencing Living Fences and Hedges Take Extra Care of the Diet Basic Hygiene Tethering References and Further Reading

Background

Livestock that are allowed to roam freely and to scavenge around the home compound often appear to provide something for nothing, as little money is spent on them, while, depending on the species, they provide modest amounts of meat, eggs and milk to the family economy, either for sale or for home consumption. Animals kept in this way, however, have a number of hidden costs that may not be fully appreciated by the farm family. While pigs are potentially more destructive than other species because they often dig up and roll in vegetation, even chickens and ducks are capable of doing considerable damage to young seedlings in a vegetable garden.

Livestock kept in close proximity to family accommodation may present a potential human health hazard through the presence of diseases and parasites which they can pass on to their owners. In addition to these aspects, there are large losses of unprotected livestock to predators and to diseases, aggravated by stress caused by excessive heat, cold and humidity.

Management and handling of animals is much more difficult when animals are not confined in some way, while isolation of sick animals, or the planned mating of superior individuals, are almost impossible practices in the absence of simple installations. In tropical Bolivia, the provision of cheap, rustic housing as part of a package, including control of internal parasites and vaccination against common diseases, was shown to increase the productivity of a range of largely scavenging small livestock by 30 per cent or more (Paterson and Rojas, 2004), which had a significant effect on poverty alleviation. Confinement of livestock can, however, result in increased risk of losses to infectious and parasites, particularly if manure is not cleaned out of the shelters frequently enough, while impeded ventilation can result in respiratory problems. It is necessary to strike a balance between providing sufficient shelter to protect the animals, without keeping them under conditions that can lead to other animal health problems.

Shelters and Housing

Housing and shelter needs to be designed to provide protection against the environment - rain, sun, heat, cold - as well as protection against predators, and theft where relevant.

Availability and cost of building materials will vary from region to region, so the following principles are intended as suggestions for appropriate housing for different species of livestock, rather than as instructions. They will need to be adapted to local conditions, climate and materials in order to provide the most efficient and economic solution to the problem of confinement of livestock.

Poultry

For poultry and small animals such as guinea pigs, it is usually more difficult to keep natural predators out of the enclosure than to keep the domestic animals in. This will usually require the use of wire mesh, which has to be bought in, but the enclosures will be small and the amount of wire to be bought will not be great. The size of the enclosure will depend on the number of birds to be housed, as well as the feeding strategies, but in general terms, a pen measuring 3 by 4 metres is sufficient for up to about 60 chickens, or a combination of chickens and ducks - if raised under fairly intensive conditions with a high degree of management and inputs. It should have a floor raised by 20-30 cm to prevent water seepage and damp conditions that will encourage disease. The bottom 30 cm of the walls should be solid, made of stakes, planks, bricks, etc. to prevent the escape of chicks and the entry of predators. Wire netting should be securely fixed above the side walls, to allow good ventilation. Where strong winds and driving rains occur in the cold season, it is advisable to provide side curtains, at least on the windward side of the coop. These can be formed from old feed or fertilizer bags, which can be rolled up or removed in good weather, but lowered to provide protection from the elements at the worst times of the year.

For all classes of poultry, off-cuts of wood, or discarded house bricks and building blocks can be formed into individual nesting boxes. These should be set 40-50 cm above ground level, to reduce exposure to cold and damp conditions. For chickens, at least one nest box should be provided for every 3-5 hens and a convenient size is 30 cm wide, by 40 cm deep and 40 cm high. For ducks, where all females tend to lay their eggs at the same time, there should be a nest box for each female and the size should be slightly larger than for chickens. The boxes should be partially filled with straw or wood shavings and designed in such a way that they are easy to clean between clutches.

The birds will quickly learn to use nesting boxes, instead of hiding their eggs under bushes around the home compound. This facilitates both incubation and hatching of chicks, and harvest of the eggs for consumption or sale. For chickens, poles cut on the farm should be installed at varying heights inside the shelter to allow the birds to roost above ground level. Here, they will be more comfortable and less likely to be attacked by predators.

For more on poultry housing

With largely scavenging poultry, a workable system is to confine them in a secure shelter at night, to protect them from natural predators, while allowing them to roam freely around the home compound during the day, when the predators are less active. In this way, the birds will have ready access to their main diet of insects and seeds that they obtain for themselves and the amount of supplementary feed to be provided by the farm family will be reduced.

Any feed of grain or household scraps that is offered should be given inside the shelter. If this is regularly provided in the evening, it will help to train the birds to willingly enter the enclosure before nightfall. If the shelter is left open during the day, the birds will be able to seek shelter from excessively hot, cold or wet weather, as needed. Chickens need green leafy vegetation, and if confined they should be provided with this - preferably on a daily basis. This needs to be secured, and not simply left loose on the floor of the chicken run. Under free-ranging conditions the birds would peck at leaves and pull off pieces, and if leaves are not secured this becomes very difficult.

Green leafy vegetation, such as outer leaves from cabbage, can be tied in bunches to the edge of a chicken run. (The parts that they don't eat, mostly the midribs, can then be fed to sheep and goats).

For pigs, the pens should be located on high ground, some 30-50m downwind from the house, to avoid the bad smells that will be produced by the animals. A minimum of 1 m² is required for each animal and when more than 2 sows are kept, it is useful to have up to 4 sub-divisions within the installation. The sides will need to be very secure to prevent the escape of animals. This can be achieved by a double row of closely spaced, deeply-planted fence posts with horizontal poles or planks slotted into place between them, or by the use of fencing wire. If the enclosures are arranged in a square, a single roof structure can be built to provide some area of shade in all four quarters. Except for times when it is necessary to isolate sick animals, a single, permanent water source in the corner where the quarters meet, will serve all four pens. If wire is used to make the enclosures, the strands near to the ground should be close enough to prevent the escape of very young animals.

For more on pig housing see "A Manual on Improved Rural Pig Production"

Sheep and Goats

The basic feed for small ruminants is usually pasture and when allowed to graze, under most circumstances, 1 hectare of good pasture will provide most of the feed requirements for 10 breeding females. In confinement, a minimum of 1m by 2m of floor area should be provided for each adult animal and a shelter with overall dimensions of 10m x 4.5m will provide sufficient space for up to 30 ewes and followers. The floor should be raised, or made of wood, cement or stone, to reduce problems of foot-rot and over-grown hooves. The side walls should be at least 1.20m tall and perhaps higher for goats, if they show any tendency to escape by jumping out. A convenient shelter can be made with four enclosures, to allow separation of different groups of animals, according to sex, age or physiological status. The divisions will make management easier and a separate pen for lambing or kidding will protect the mothers from interference and the newly born animals from the danger of being trampled by more mature animals in the flock.

Where males are kept with the herd (either permanently or during breeding) and especially with horned sheep, the rams may spend time head-butting (or ramming) the sides of any structures, including shelters. Additional, strong beams or poles should be fixed at strategic heights on the sides of the shelters to prevent their destruction by these rams.

Guinea Pigs

Fencing is an issue that will normally concern sheep and goats more than other species of small livestock. In some cultures, animals are regularly taken to pasture by a herdsman and there may be no need for fences at all, except for the provision of an enclosed area where they can spend the night, safe from attack by predators.

Where there is insufficient labour available, or where there is no culture of herding, it may be necessary to fence the pastures for these animals, to allow efficient management of the grazing resource and to prevent the animals from wandering away from the home farm. On farms where cattle are kept with small ruminants, the cattle are often given first turn at a pasture, being replaced by the small ruminants when the larger animals are moved to another area. The small ruminants have smaller mouths and a different grazing process, so they are able to be more selective than cattle in the material that they choose to eat. In this way, they can obtain sufficient nutrients from an area which would not provide good grazing for cattle. If this practice is followed, the fencing needs to be well maintained, to ensure that the smaller animals are unable to escape.

Thorn boma, or enclosure, in the Ngorongoro highlands of Tanzania, used for night-time confinement and protection - whilst the livestock are herded during the day

Building materials for both fences and housing are often available on the farm, where wooden posts and thorny shrubs can be cut and used to make animal-proof barricades, while thatching grass or palm fronds can be employed as roofing material to provide shade and shelter from the rain. In this way, use of purchased inputs will be kept to a minimum and for small ruminants, will usually be restricted to a few nails and some lengths of tie-wire, rope or baler twine. The continual maintenance needed by shrub barriers may be a problem for longer runs, however, and in this case, it is worth considering the use of either barbed, or plain wire, depending upon cost and availability.

For mature pigs, barriers will need to be more secure than for sheep and goats, but it is not usual to fence off large areas for pigs. Even so, barriers for pigs can often be formed from posts and planks or bamboo, without the need for large amounts of expensive inputs.

Pigs can be allowed to scavenge when there are no nearby crops in the field, although they should be confined if they are likely to cause damage to cash or subsistence crops. Small ruminants should spend most of their time at pasture, although night shelters will protect them from bad weather - as well as shelter from hot sun during the day - and give them a safe place to sleep.

Having a living fence around the farm has multiple benefits. Besides protection from trespassers and cattle, a living fence also provides a buffer, and with a sensible choice of plants, even some cash return. It does however take several years to develop. Live fences can be divided into two basic categories:

	Live fence posts	Live fence posts are widely spaced, single lines of woody plants that are regularly pruned back and used instead of metal or wooden posts for supporting barbed wire, bamboo or other materials.
	Live barriers or hedges	Hedges are thicker, more densely spaced live fences that generally include a number of different species and do not normally support other fencing materials.

The primary purpose of live fences is to control the movement of animals and people, however, they have proven to be extremely diverse, low risk systems that provide farmers with numerous benefits. Besides their main function living fences can provide fuelwood, fodder and food, act as wind breaks or enrich the soil, depending on the species used.

Often trees in living fences are allowed to grow to larger sizes than with hedges. Genera of particular importance as living fences include: Erythrina and Gliricidia which can serve both as fences and as sources of fuelwood and fodder.

The live fence posts are more durable than traditional wooden posts as they are more resistant to attack by termites and fungi. Sheep and goats will browse and eat woody vegetation (see Tree Fodder), and in this case the only way to establish live fence posts and eventually a living fence, is to start with a more conventional wire fence supported by dead fence posts and establish live fence posts behind the original fence and protected against grazing/browsing. These can then take on the function of fence posts when the original posts need to be replaced. The species used for live fence posts must have the ability to rapidly form a callus and cover over the point of attachment of the wire to the post. The callus protects the wood from attack by decay fungi and wood-boring insects. Tree or shrub species that have a resin or sap that is corrosive to metal, should be avoided. Otherwise, the wire breaks a few months after being attached to the live fence post.

Gliricidia sepium is a common live fence post species in Central America and in other tropical areas. Large stem cuttings root with relative ease, and it has multiple uses such as a forage and green manure. Establish a live fence by planting a few large (1.5-2.0 m tall) stakes in or behind an existing conventional wire fence. These stakes normally take root within a month or so. Allow the shoots to grow for 6 to 10 months before cutting them back. After the first pruning, prunings can be carried out every 4 to 8 months, or seasonally. Larger prunings result in woody sprouts that are suitable for use as further stakes. In this way live stakes can be multiplied for use as living fence posts within a year or two after establishing the first live fence posts. For more on Gliricidia

Method for constructing a Live "Wattle" Fence Plant developed seedlings at a suitable distance apart, e.g. about one foot or 30 cm. Once established, weave the branches from one tree into another. Tape the branches together where they meet. Once the trees begin to increase in diameter the trees should grow together firmly at each contact point.

Recommended species for live fences in dry and semi-arid
areas of West Africa (from Louppe, 1999).

	Species Rainfall (mm) 400-700 700-1000 1000-1300 Acacia mellifera Acacia nilotica Acacia senegal  Agave sisalana Bauhinia rufescens Citrus lemon Commiphora africana Dichrostachys cinerea Euphorbia balsamifera Haematoxylon brasiletto Jatropha curcas Moringa oleifera Prosopis juliflora Ziziphus mauritiana Ziziphus mucronata

It is important to note that confined animals have less opportunity to fill their dietary requirements than free-ranging livestock, so provision must be made to provide them with most of their feed during the period when they are not allowed to roam freely. Feed and water should be offered in the shelters, so that animals can eat and drink at any time during the day or night.

The feed should be kept off the ground and clean, fresh water should be offered daily, to minimise the spread of parasites. Clay plates, halved PVC pipes or bamboo, or cut-down, square plastic containers of a capacity of about 5 litres make cheap and efficient containers for feed and water for small animals (poultry and guinea pigs), although larger receptacles, such as halved vehicle tyres or oil drums kept steady by a wooden frame, are better for pigs and small ruminants.

Cut grass and hay can be placed in open, wooden racks for adult sheep and goats. Simple designs for housing, chicken roosts and feeders and water containers suitable for poultry, pigs, sheep and guinea pigs are given in Choque et al. (2002b). Facilities designed for sheep will also be suitable for goats, but goats make more use of vegetation from woody plants and they prefer to look up for their feed, so tied bunches of tree leaves should be suspended above the ground inside the shelters.

It is necessary to undertake a strict programme of basic hygiene within the shelters, to prevent the build-up of diseases and parasites. Bedding and spoiled, or discarded feed should be regularly removed and either burned or composted (see section on Management of Manure), as it is likely to be contaminated with urine and faeces, almost certain to contain infections and parasite eggs.

Ashes from a cooking fire should be regularly spread on the ground inside the shelter, particularly under poultry perches, since this will help to kill developing parasites and many infections that may be present. Further information is provided by Choque et al. (2002a).

An alternative to fencing, which can be used for growing pigs and for both large and small ruminants, is tethering. Here, individual animals are tied by the neck, or a leg, to a stake or a tree, with a rope long enough to allow them freedom to graze and browse. The length of the rope should allow the animal access to enough grazing for the period that it is to be left in one spot. Once the available pasture has been consumed, the animal should be moved to another site. The shorter the rope, the more frequently should the animal be moved and animals on a short tether may have to be moved several times per day.

It is not usually possible to obtain enough receptacles to provide sufficient water for more than a couple of animals for a full day and it is time-consuming to provide them with enough water to keep them satisfied. It will often be necessary to take the animals to a drinking trough of clean water at least twice a day, in the morning and again in the afternoon, since if water intake is restricted, production will suffer.

Tethering may impose restrictions on access to and selection of feeds which affect the quality and total quantity of diet ingested, and thereby necessitate more intensive supplementary feeding regimes, particularly for more productive animals, such as lactating females.

Tether-Grazing Goats in Tanzania

The Productivity of Tethered Goats in Tanzania

Choque, J.C., Rojas, F., Lizárraga, H., Fernández, W., Palomino, E. and Joaquín, N. (2002a). Recomendaciones para el control y prevención de enfermedades en aves, ovinos y cerdos.

[Recommendations for the prevention and control of diseases in poultry, sheep and pigs].

Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical/Natural Resources Institute, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

...or go to this research project

Choque, J.C., Rojas, F., Lizárraga, H., Palomino, E. and Fernández, W (2002b). Infraestructura rural básica para crianza de animales menores.

[Basic rural infrastructure for raising small animals].

Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical/Natural Resources Institute, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

...or go to this research project

Oosterwijk, G., Van Aken, D. and Vongthilath, S. (2003). A Manual on Improved Rural Poultry Production (1st Edition, English Language). Department of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Vientiane, Lao PDR. VIII + 115 pp.

Oosterwijk, G., Van Aken, D. and Vongthilath, S. (2003). A Manual on Improved Rural Pig Production (1st Edition, English Language). Department of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Vientiane, Lao PDR. VIII + 113 pp.

Proverbs, G. and Hutson, L. (1992). Rabbits: diseases and their control. CARDI Factsheet AP-F/5-80. Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute.