Cellular equipment for keeping chickens is very often used in farming, where many birds are bred. It is noteworthy that the designs are made by hand, and are made to order. The main thing here is to comply with the requirements and rules that will make the cage maintenance of laying hens safe and convenient.
Advantages
Placing birds in such structures provides several advantages over traditional crates or perches. Indeed, in this case, the number of hens will not be difficult to increase even though the territory is very limited in area. It is also possible, even at home, to cage the chickens precisely because serving such a bird will be very convenient. The feed will be economized due to ergonomics in feed and limited bird mobility. It will take much less time to collect eggs. Such conditions provide greater security. And if in traditional chicken coops one square meter is allocated for each bird, then here it will accommodate up to 10 layers. And this reduces the cost of maintaining the premises.
Cellular maintenance of laying hens facilitates the cleaning process. In cages, the bird is more protected from predators and infections that wild animals can bring with them. The feed is dispensed in separate trays, which means that it will not wake up and get trampled. Also, the bird is inactive, which means that it will not need much food. Breeds of chickens for cage are selected meat and egg - because the weight of such birds in the cages will gain much more than during life in the nests, even if you spend the same amount of feed on them.
In this case, always equipment for collecting eggs is installed. Thanks to this, their collection is facilitated. But, of course, this method has its drawbacks.
disadvantages
When planning to organize the cellular maintenance of chickens, you need to consider that the quality of life in such individuals will be extremely low. They will need to be fed with calcium, vitamin complexes. Since chickens are very close to each other, the risk of an epidemic will increase if the infection does get here. There will be no natural lighting, and many birds will die due to heart attacks - after all, the food is plentiful, and there is practically no movement. The lack of sunlight also leads to a deterioration in the condition of the bird. Lighting costs required.
If a bird is kept in an aviary, it receives trace elements by eating stones, insects, grass. But she loses this opportunity in the cell. It is important to ensure regular veterinary control - because otherwise the risk is high that the entire population will die from a contagious disease.
Cell requirements
Improving the cage efficiency of mini-meat chickens and reducing the risk of problems will help compliance with all equipment requirements. So, it is important to equip each compartment with its feeder and drinking bowl. The walls must be made of steel, it is not necessary to make them solid. It will be necessary to ventilate the room in a timely manner. The diameter of the rods in the nets should not be less than 2.5 mm, otherwise the pan runs the risk of bending under the weight of the chickens.
The size of the cells in the cell content of chickens should not be less than 0.06 square meters. If the breed is meat and egg, the minimum size is 0.08 square meters.
It is necessary to organize feeders and drinking bowls in such a way that it was not difficult to remove them, at the same time, the fastening should be as reliable as possible. The ceiling and walls of the chamber should be made of steel gratings. This will prevent excessive moisture, while the cell will be aired.
In each cell, with the cellular content of mini-chickens, it is allowed to place from two to twelve individuals. Typically, cameras are used measuring 0.7 meters deep, 1.9 meters wide and 0.7 meters high. This is enough for five birds.
Necessary equipment
To maintain the normal life of the bird, it is necessary to equip the room with ventilation, heating, an automatic drinker. To organize the latter, you will need to supply water in a vacuum type. It is important that the water tanks close tightly.
In order for the room to be adequately lit, it is necessary to use incandescent lamps or LED bulbs. An energy-saving variety is also suitable. But the latter can, when broken, poison the hens with mercury vapor. Incandescent bulbs will consume nine times more energy than LEDs.
It is necessary to purchase lighting equipment on the basis of the fact that for the cage content of chickens it will be necessary to have a 100-watt lamp for every 2 square meters if incandescent bulbs are used, or 12-watt lamps when using LEDs.
Lighting
The light should be uniform, do not allow shaded areas with the cellular content of laying hens at home. Daylight hours will last 14-16 hours. To automatically maintain the mode, it makes sense to set the appropriate timer. If there are windows, you need to purchase a photosensitive sensor. It will turn off the lamps when there is sufficient daylight.
What you need to make
Chambers for layers are made of metal gratings. They are fixed on a frame made of metal or wood. To mount the camera, you need to take nets and metal corners of 3 mm or more. You will need sheet metal thicker than 1.5 mm - these will be the trays. For feeders, it is necessary to take plywood sheets thicker than 2 mm. 70 mm pipes will be needed for drinking. You will also need hinges, hooks, nails, screws.
It is permissible to carry out litter trays not of tin, but of plastic. Of the tools you will need welding equipment, a screwdriver, a grinder, a tape measure, and a building level. With the main points of the cellular content of chickens at home, you will need to decide before creating cameras. The most effective way is to use the video tutorials for making such cells.
You can save installation time by installing a common sloping floor. It is important to consider that the litter tray can be common to only two cells, not more. Otherwise, in the future there will be many difficulties associated with its cleaning.
Content
Peculiarities of the chicken’s cell content will be largely determined by the time of the bird. Feeding chickens will be fundamentally different from that in adults.
If there is automatic lighting, heating, water supply, then maintenance will be as simple as possible. All that is required is to regularly disinfect the chambers, monitor the general characteristics of the room (lighting, humidity, temperature), and ensure that the feed is always there. It is important to monitor the external signs of pet health.
Humidity
The appropriate moisture level will be determined by how densely populated chickens are. If the density is high, 45% humidity will be enough, and the temperature will be 23 degrees. Every 3 days you will need to wipe the rods, feeders, drinking bowls, making disinfection. With the same regularity, water is replaced. Litter together with garbage is carried out every day. Once every 14 days, it will be necessary to remove the bird from the chamber in order to carry out the internal disinfection of the cells with chlorine.
Feed
With the cellular content of chickens, it is better to give preference to compound feeds. They are enriched with useful trace elements. In cases where the food is homemade, it is important to dilute the diet of egg shells, cleaning it of the films. Special complexes with calcium are also suitable.
If the feed is topped up, you need to mix it thoroughly every time. Otherwise, it will begin to cake, and the bottom layer will be damaged. Nevertheless, such conditions of detention are considered the easiest, because in the presence of roosts it is much more difficult to grow a bird.
In Russia and around the world
When choosing a method of breeding poultry, it is worth considering that the cellular content of chickens in the entire civilized world, in European countries, is not applied. The thing is that this method of breeding is recognized as traumatic for the bird, inhumane. Such production is cruel, it does not correspond to environmental ideas for the production of livestock products.
At the same time, such a system is practically used in Russian farms. In poultry farms, despite the vast expanses of the country, they try to save space, and they put the bird in cages.
Product quality
Also, keeping the poultry out of cages allows you to get better meat. It is tastier, and the demand for such products is higher. Higher in this case, and the cost of the goods. The bird must necessarily have space for walking, to be in the fresh air. You can increase the number of laying hens in chicken coops using a multi-tiered floor system. In cases where the cells are equipped poorly, made without observing all the requirements, the bird will simply receive permanent injuries to the legs and stomach, and the eggs will produce significantly less than normal indicators.
Often, the producer avoids the manifestation of such negative consequences, planting chickens in cages only in the winter. At the same time, hens are provided with special insulated bedding, fed with fresh herbs, vegetables. As a rule, the cellular content of chickens is used when the livestock is really huge.
The content in the cells without sunlight leads to the fact that the body of the bird lacks vitamin D. And this leads to the development of rickets, the bird has fewer eggs, and their quality is markedly reduced. At the same time, many different diseases develop in the body.
Food should not include any dyes or medicines. After all, the body of a bird will not be able to digest such components. Professionals believe that high-quality mixed feed for chickens contains 15% protein, 5% fat and 6% fiber. The content of additional trace elements is also important.
When the chickens are kept in cages, automatic feeding systems are used - the food is in separate chutes at the chambers. From there the birds begin to peck it. It is important that the water in the drinkers always remains fresh. For one individual per day, not less than 0.5 liters of water. For this reason, the drinking system must be thought out without fail. Otherwise, the bird runs the risk of getting sick quickly, and the quality of the eggs will be reduced.
Breeds
As a rule, cages contain meat and egg breeds of chickens. Of the egg breeds, it is most often precisely in such conditions that breeds of Loman Braun, Leghorn, Kuchinsky breed are bred. The thing is in their excellent adaptive abilities and in the fact that in the cells their egg production does not decrease.
To summarize
Thus, in the cellular content of chickens there are many advantages. But it is worth taking into account very significant shortcomings. It is useful to refer to the practice of European states that have recognized this method of poultry breeding as unacceptable.
Also, the acquisition of cage equipment for laying hens requires initial capital. But if an entrepreneur has specialized skills, he will be able to make cameras on his own. Thanks to this, the savings will be considerable. In cases where it has already been decided to keep the bird in captivity, you need to take care of the delivery of vitamin and mineral complexes. This is the only way to prevent the development of diseases under such conditions. Otherwise, there is a great risk that the entire population will die due to illnesses and weakened immune forces of the body. In cases where chickens are constantly stationary, climate acceptability becomes especially important for them.
Simple installation of containers with food and water will not work. It will be necessary to purchase automated feeding systems, drinking bowls. Taking into account all these factors, many farms in Russia still prefer cell breeding of chickens.
In cold seasons, the room should be well heated. The temperature should never drop below 16 degrees. In the summer, the indicator is slightly higher - it reaches 18 degrees.
It is important that the light in the room turns on smoothly. It is recommended to diversify the color scheme of light. In this case, as experienced bird breeders note, the productivity of chickens increases. It is best to alternate between red, yellow and orange lighting. Thanks to this, the birds will calm down, and this will lead to an improvement in their condition. Their health will be better. Due to the smooth inclusion of light, the conditions approach their characteristics to natural ones, and this also positively affects the state of chickens.