Laying hens, like any other poultry, can be kept in various rooms, which are most often small sheds. However, if you have chicken cages, you can place the place of detention without any restrictions at all!
Of course, the number of birds directly depends on the size of the area used. It should be calculated that up to 5 adults can accommodate up to 5 adults per square meter. However, it must be remembered that the temperament of hens also plays a significant and important role.
For example, if more birds are placed in chicken cages, then they will feel depressed and crowded, which means that later acts of oppression of weak individuals by stronger ones are possible. This can result in damage and injury, as well as death of the laying hens.
Thus, it is necessary to approach this problem carefully and thoroughly. If you decide to make cages for laying hens with your own hands, then this material will provide you with several options for implementing this idea.
1. For the first production option, you will need wooden blocks and a metal mesh. In the generalized case, such cages for chickens are a wooden frame covered with a grid with an average cell size. This option does not provide for any poles, since poultry is quite well dispensed with without. Egg collection in the examined cells should be done as often as possible, as this will prevent them from biting by other birds. In addition, a helpful recommendation is to place the drinker and feeder on the outside of the cage. This greatly increases the convenience of filling them, and also helps to maintain cleanliness and order in the cell itself.
2. The second option assumes that you have free land that can be set aside for chicken cages. Such a specialized house will provide the opportunity for laying hens to take sun baths, thereby improving their immunity, and it will help you reduce the cost of feeding the contained bird, since it can hatch worms and other insects, as well as fresh greens.
In addition, such houses can be equipped with a special container, which can be filled with wood ash. This device will have a positive effect on the health of the bird, since it can bathe in it, getting rid of various parasitic insects.
Cages for hens can be made in the form of brooders, in which there is heating. This content allows you to successfully grow chickens in special greenhouse conditions.
Another important aspect is the choice of litter in the cage. Often, crushed hay or straw, wood shavings or sawdust, and also dry leaves are used for these purposes. In some cases peat is permitted. Depending on the layer, the concepts of deep and shallow litter are distinguished. Each of these species has its own characteristics. So, for example, a layer of bedding material up to 50 cm deep will allow you not to worry about heating the chicken coop in the cold season.