Open House vs. Closed Layer House: The Cost‑Benefit Trade‑off in Poultry Production

Open House: Light investment, but you rely on nature
An open house—also called a curtain‑sided or windowed house—is a traditional design that relies on natural ventilation and daylight. It typically has four walls, with windows or roll‑up curtains to adjust the internal environment.
Its main advantage is low construction cost and energy savings. During the day, it uses natural light, and ventilation depends mainly on wind, which greatly reduces both building and operating costs. However, this dependence on nature is also its fatal flaw. The internal environment is highly vulnerable to outside weather, especially in light control—unpredictable natural daylength can cause hens to mature too early or too late, hurting laying performance, and excessive light often triggers feather pecking. In winter, thermal insulation is also clearly inadequate.
▍ Closed House: Heavy investment, but you’re fully in control
A closed house—also called a controlled‑environment or windowless house—is a sealed space almost completely cut off from the outside. It relies on artificial lighting and mechanical ventilation to create an internal environment that is entirely man‑managed.
The biggest advantage here is stability and controllability. With advanced ventilation, cooling, and lighting systems, managers can precisely regulate temperature, humidity, light, and air quality, protecting the flock from wind, heat, cold, and other adverse weather. This stable environment delivers higher production performance. Studies show that closed houses outperform open houses on key indicators like laying rate, mortality, feed consumption, and water intake. In addition, the tight seal more effectively blocks outside pathogens, reducing disease transmission.
Of course, all this comes at a cost. Construction and equipment investment are huge, and all systems—ventilation, lighting, etc.—are heavily dependent on electricity. If a power outage occurs without a reliable backup, the consequences can be disastrous.
▍ Core differences at a glance

In addition, the house type also determines the choice of cages. Open houses typically use stair‑step (A‑type) cages for good ventilation, while closed houses, aiming to maximise space utilisation, commonly use stacked (battery) cages, which can be 4 to 8 tiers or even higher.