DIY chicken cages

Nowadays, more and more often chicken is transferred to the cell content using home-made chicken cages. This can be explained by many reasons: too many livestock of young and adult individuals, too small an area of ​​the house or parallel keeping of chickens along with other birds or even livestock. Of course, in this case, the chickens should only be closed in structures that can be purchased ready-made in the store.Another option is to make your own chicken cages by purchasing materials and spending time on their production.

Cages for laying hens

It should be said that domestic hens are not classified as whimsical birds, and you can build them on an excellent and profitable business selling eggs and chicken. We’ll learn about the right way to keep cages in cages and how to make a cage house for birds yourself from improvised means.

Is it profitable to keep chickens in a cage

Surely you know There are two ways to keep poultry: on the street or in the cages (factory-made from the manufacturer or home-made, made at home).Before you start studying drawings such as a chicken cage and constructing the structures found in the photo or video, it’s worthwhile to figure out how beneficial this equipment is and whether this type of cage is suitable for adult laying hens in a particular case.

The advantages of such bird maintenance

• A person completely controls the entire life cycle of a laying hen.
• This content greatly facilitates veterinary care and regular examinations.
• There is an opportunity keep a large number of birds on a relatively small ter itories in comparison with the traditional placement in the chicken coop.
• It is believed that cell cultivation can significantly save on feed, as the equipment provides for feeders.
• Cages for transporting adult hens and even cell batteries are more convenient when transporting birds.
• The price of a self-made cage is much cheaper than a store one.
• This way you can contain any chicken, regardless of their breed.

It is believed that, provided that the meat-egg breeds live in a lock, it’s easier for a person to come alive feeding schedule, which will feed the bird in time, maintaining a normal balanced diet. It is also worth mentioning that in such designs a greater number of eggs is retained in comparison with the egg production rate with free street walking.In the latter case, masonry can be found in the most unexpected places, for example, in thick weeds or near cow dung, and not in a place like a cage for several chickens. It is also important to remember that pets like cats, dogs and others like chicken eggs, they will enjoy a fresh product with pleasure.

Disadvantages of cell placement

Speaking about the minuses cell cultivation, it is worth first of all to say that the bird loses its natural food when feeding, that is, grass and fresh worms. Naturally, this cannot but affect the health status of the laying hen:

• Chickens become sedentary, since they no longer need to get their own food. In the natural environment, one can hardly see a hohlushka sitting in one place: it is constantly in motion. What does this threaten? The egg production rate may deteriorate, and immunity is also likely to deteriorate.
• Vitamin D deficiency due to insufficient sun exposure. The fact is that the chicken does not walk as much as it would walk, being on a free range. Despite the fact that it is possible to install ultraviolet lamps in the cell battery, this will not be enough for a really hard shell and a bright yellow yolk, which is found only in domestic chickens.
• Vitamin deficiency and a lack of minerals and trace elements.As mentioned earlier, the chicken’s diet, locked up, has no fresh grass, worms, bugs, which negatively affects the general well-being and metabolism of the bird.

Thus, the cellular content is more beneficial from an economic point of view, if you make cages for laying hens with your own hands, but the quality of life of the bird and the quality of the eggs deteriorate.

Opinion of chicken breeders on chicken cages

Most poultry farmers still advocate cages for chickens from a different grid, as their advantages prevail over the minuses. However, they recommend adhering to some rules that will help significantly reduce the harm of the cell content:

• Try to put the crests in the cages of the chicken coop only in the cold season, that is, in winter and autumn.
• Try to adhere to the set density standards of the livestock, in other words, do not populate the cage too tightly so that the drinking bowl and feeder are not a crowding place.
• Try to enter it into the feed yourself chicken fresh grass in the summer and flour from the grass in the autumn-winter period.
• It is imperative that the cages provide for the litter on the floor because if the birds have nightmares they can fall.

If you are still determined that your chickens will live in cages, we proceed to section do-it-yourself cage types, with a detailed description of how to be able to make them.

Cage with a mesh floor

Such a cage for laying hens This is a classic rectangular version of the cage for laying hens, which is the easiest to execute. At the same time, there are standard dimensions that must be adhered to when working with schemes and drawings of chicken cages. We present them in the table (cage sizes for hens are calculated based on 7 young animals, this is how many laying layers should be in cages):

As already mentioned, this is the minimum that you need to repel, speaking about the size of the cage for laying hens. It is worth saying that there should be nothing inside such a cage, except for the chicken itself. Even the drinker and feeder must be moved outside the cages, that is, they are mounted on the outside as provided by the scheme. At the same time, it is recommended to place the drinker above the feeder so that food particles do not fall into the water. It is not recommended to make the feeder and drinker too deep during their manufacture.

A cage with a bedding on the floor

As already mentioned, it is recommended to keep the layers not on a concrete floor, for example , in a garage or iron rods, and on a special litter, as the international sanitary rules for any birds say: quail, chicken, geese and so on. How to make chicken cages? If you approach the issue of making cages for chickens responsibly, that is, provide for the laying of the entire area, then the height of the structure must be increased by at least 15-20 cm. At the same time, its height will be 65-80 cm in height.

It is recommended that you make a wooden floor. The fact is that the bedding will slip less, which will prevent injuries to the bird and the laying hens in the cages will be safe.

Cage with a slope

As practice and numerous reviews of farmers show, the most convenient way to equip a chicken cage is a cage with a sloping floor and an egg collector. You can purchase its industrial version, as well as do it yourself by calculating the size of the cages for chickens. This is convenient, since all eggs laid by the laying hen will automatically slide into special compartments, called the egg collector, under the action of gravity, which should be provided at the planning stage. all litter will be independently collected in special grid cells. Thus, it will be possible to abandon the litter as the scheme shows and the design will be greatly simplified.

Preparatory work for the manufacture of a cage with a slope

In order to make a chicken cage with your own hands – layers with a sloping floor, you first need to draw a drawing of the future home, which is usually done on a solid sheet. When the drawing is ready, you can start searching for the necessary material, for which you will need:

• A beam of wood about 5 x 5 cm in size, its purpose is to make a frame for the future chicken house.
• Metal profile.
• Drywall.

A number of requirements must be adhered to:

• The task of the farmer is to build such a floor that will not sag after some time.It is recommended to take as a basis a floor with wire reinforcement according to the type of mesh at least 4 mm thick, while the size of one mesh cell should be about 30 x 50 mm.
• The walls should not be dull, leave room for a mini holes. They are needed in order to ventilate the cage.
• As for the front wall, that is, the part of the structure where the feeder and drinking bowl will be placed, the mesh cell will be slightly larger: 5 x 5 cm.

How to make a slope in a cell

If you carefully study the drawings of such structures, it will become clear that making a slope is not such a difficult task if you have a metal profile . In order for everything to work correctly, it is important to adhere to the rule: no more than 7 young animals are placed in 1 cage, while the minimum cage height for laying hens is at least 75 cm then the cages for laying hens with their own hands will become cost-effective.

Which should the slope be in the cage? How to make a cage for laying hens? The most optimal slope is about 10 °, while the gap between the waste tray and floors is about 13 cm. As for the gutter for collecting eggs (egg collection), it must be positioned so that the chicken does not have access to it, because such attempts definitely will be.

A galvanized sheet is best suited for a pallet, as this material will remain unchanged for a long time.The pan should be extendable so that it is possible to clear it of chicken droppings at any time.

Tip from poultry farmers: to make it easier to clean the galvanized sheet, it is recommended to sprinkle it with sawdust. This method is called Cinderella.

Now you know more about how profitable or unprofitable it is to keep laying hens in cages and not on the street, also you know how to make cages for laying hens yourself by video. You need to acquire the necessary materials to look at cages for chicken photos, have patience and do poultry farming for your pleasure.