Chicken cage: how to do it yourself, design features for growing broilers

Many people want to be involved in household chores. It is always good to have fresh vegetables and meat on your table. In addition, all hand-grown products will definitely be useful, because they do not contain chemistry and various harmful additives. But in order to grow a hundred, you need to make an effort. For example, in order to raise chickens, you need to make them cages, a paddock and properly care for them. This article will discuss how to make a cage for chickens on your own.

Features of keeping broiler chickens

Broilers are a special and rather difficult type of chicken to grow. The way it is kept is different from the usual. If chickens need a lot of space, little light and no drafts, then broilers need the opposite. Cages for chickens of this breed should not be too spacious. At the same time, they are well ventilated and let in a sufficient amount of light.

You should also carefully choose a place to install cages for chickens. Here you need to consider the following factors:

• warm and dry. Broiler chickens grow well under certain temperature conditions. So, a daily bird should be kept at a temperature of 34 degrees. If the chicken is a week old, then the degree can be lowered to 30. That is why in the first days of life the bird must be heated using any device. Often, lamps or electric heating pads are installed on the cage (top).
• very world. The first month the cage should be illuminated around the clock. Then the lighting time can be gradually reduced. Upon reaching 16 hours of daylight hours, the decrease in illumination stops until the slaughter.
• correctly place the feeders and drinkers. As a rule, they are located at different ends of the cell. So the bird will not spend a lot of energy on moving.

In addition, when growing broilers, you need to properly feed the bird. She should receive all the necessary vitamins and a sufficient amount of nutrients.

Making a cage for chickens

If you have made the decision to grow broilers, then you will definitely think about where to get the cages. On sale you can find ready-made options. But they will cost quite a lot, so many prefer to do everything with their own hands. The manufacturing process is quite labor intensive., but, having stuffed his hand, everything will go “like clockwork.”

Before you start making cells with your own hands, prepare the necessary materials. For work you will need:

• plywood sheet. It will play the role of the basis of the entire cell (sex). Since broilers are quite heavy birds, the sheet thickness should be at least 20 mm. But even such thick plywood must be reinforced with slats.
• wooden beams. Of these, the frame of the future house for chickens will be made.
• grid. It is necessary for the construction of the open part. The grid should have cells 70 by 70 mm.
• screws, nails, brackets, corners.
• a set of carpentry tools, a screwdriver, a screwdriver.

The size of the cage will depend on the number of chicks. Broilers are grown in a cramped room, so large sizes do not need to be done. As a rule, up to 5 birds are placed per square meter. And if it’s a cold season outside, then the number of chickens increases up to 10 pieces per square meter.

The first step is to make a frame of bars. The height of the cage is not more than 40-50 cm. A sheet of plywood is attached from below and reinforced with slats. The lower half of the rear and side walls are also covered with plywood. The top and the rest of the sidewalls and the back wall are closed with a mesh.

The front part is equipped with a feeder and drinker mounted on brackets. And its upper part is made of mesh in the form of a door. The dimensions must be sufficient to reach a healthy bird.

If most of the birds are grown at once, then you can do multi-cell rack. A common frame is made (more powerful wooden blocks are used), and then it is divided into several cells. This method can significantly save space in the barn.

To facilitate maintenance, you can make a floor from a fine metal mesh. In this case, the litter will be poured into the equipped bottom tray, and then removed. In this case, the mesh must be reinforced with intersecting wooden slats or metal rods.

Chicken cage equipment

Broilers need special care, as mentioned earlier. Therefore, the cage needs to be further equipped. In addition to feeders and automatic drinkers, you need to consider installation of heating and lighting devices.

Very often, powerful incandescent lamps with reflectors are installed in the back (or on top, if the cage is not included in the block). Such designs give a sufficient amount of light and at the same time heat.

In the hot season, incandescent lamps can be replaced with fluorescent ones. They will give a sufficient amount of light, while not generating heat.