European community house configuration A second restaurant design can be used in production houses with a European community house configuration. These houses have a slat-nesting system that runs through the mid- dle of the house, creating a left and right side of the house. They are normally 120 to 150 metres long and feed distribu- tion is done from the centre of the house for both males and females. The two male feeding systems are placed along both side walls over the length of the house. The restaurant feed- ing area is created by hanging netting next to the male feed- er line. The netting must be rigged so that it can be raised to let males in and lowered when all the males are inside at feeding time. With this design, a whistle is also used to train the males to come to the male feeders. This concept is fairly inexpensive to install and has many of the same advantages described above. On top of which restaurant pens can be used both for feeding and to do male grading during the pro- duction period to sort heavier, medium and lightweight males into different pens and to feed them different feed amounts. This will facilitate corrections to bodyweight and uniformity which can improve mating productivity, livability and the conditioning of males, as well as maximising fertility and hatch. This design also allows producers to regulate the number of males that are allowed to mix with the female population by raising the netting and allowing only a portion of the males out of the pen while the remaining males remain segregated in the restaurant pens. In this way, male aggres- sion can be controlled if males are ahead of female sexual de- velopment during the age period 21 to 26 weeks. Using this method, different males will become acquainted with the fe- males each day. This also alleviates biosecurity issues in areas where it is complicated to bring in males from other locations at a later age. However, it is important to note that if males


are going to be segregated, water drinkers need to be availa- ble in the restaurant area. Males consume feed more quickly than females and require a water source when the female feed clean-up time is extended through peak production. It is also important to maintain sufficient spacing between the dropped netting and the male and female feeder track so that both sexes can eat comfortably and with ease.


Personal preference Some operations discontinue the male restaurant after peak production while others continue to use it over the life span of the flock. The male drinker line needs to be high enough so that only males can access it. If females are allowed to access male drinker lines, more floor eggs can be expected. Calculate 8 males per nipple and place the nipples 1 metre apart. In a house that is 120 metres long with 5,000 females per side and 450 males (9%), this means 450÷8 males/nipple = 56.25 nip- ples. For nipples to be spaced at a distance of 1 metre apart a nipple line that is approximately 59 metres long will be need- ed. The house is 120 metres long, so this means that the nipple line will not cover the whole length of the house. Restaurants have some unique advantages in that males can be closely monitored during the production period to pro- mote fertility and hatchability. Using this method, producers can manage mating activity if sexual synchronization is not uniform between the sexes and, as a result, improve female livability. In many cases, the investment in the materials needed for the restaurant pens is easily offset by the improvement in production performance.


▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 8, 2020 19


A male restau- rant is com- posed of a fixed pen located in the middle or at the end of the production house.


ILLUSTRATION: COBB


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