In order to raise hens, cockerels or meat broilers from chickens, you need to determine where to keep the bird so that it has the freedom to grow and develop normally. Important have cages for chickens. They can be purchased at the market, at a pet store or from local craftsmen, or you can make them at home yourself from scrap materials.
Until the chicks grow up and can live in a common flock of chicken coops, a portable cage will be the ideal home for them, which will protect the kids from all adversity. The main task of the poultry farmer will be to closely monitor his birds, keep the cage clean and follow the bird feeding regime.
Mobile structures will help you quickly and easily change the lighting, heat and ventilation conditions for babies. For day-old chicks, the area inside the cage will have to be delimited. You can build walls from cardboard and cover the floor. Cages should have lighting fixtures that will also heat the air around the chicks.
At home, it is not always possible to constantly monitor a chicken brood, so a cage for small chickens must meet all safety requirements. A roof or canopy made will protect children from rain in bad weather and from the sun in hot weather.
The size of the structure must correspond to the number of birds. When you plan to get chickens for yourself and raise few chickens, simple mesh cages are suitable. Large farms and enterprises select the most advantageous design before starting work, and it will be correct to make multi-tiered structures, then the small area will accommodate a significant number of bird heads.
Tip: To determine the parameters of the cage, you should take into account that it is possible to place 50 young chickens on one square meter for a period of one and a half months. One-day old babies can live in a flock of 70 chicks.
What will be needed when building cells?
Before you make a chicken cage with your own hands, you need to carefully prepare, although the process will not take much time. For an economical wooden cage you will need minimal amount materials. The inventory list includes: plywood sheets or OSB tiles, mesh with one-by-one cm cells, galvanized metal in one sheet, electric cable, cartridge. They also acquire nails, screws, a screwdriver, and a saw.
Instruction of the simplest design
The dimensions of the cage are indicated on the drawing; accordingly, the plywood is cut from which the walls and ceiling will consist. It is better to make the ceiling of a chicken house folding, then caring for the animals will be convenient.
Tip: The front wall is made of mesh so that the chickens are visible at all times, and the chicks have a confined space around them.
The walls are secured using screws. Under the mesh floor there will be space for a galvanized metal tray to catch the droppings to keep the chickens' cage clean and cozy. A cartridge is attached to the ceiling and a cable for lighting and heating is connected.
Simple metal structure
For chickens, do-it-yourself cages can be different, for example, metal. You can construct a room for a dozen chicks at home without much effort using galvanized mesh and wires. The tools you will need to work with are pliers.
It’s good if the farm has an old net so as not to spend money on a new one. The material is cut into sections into 5 pieces of the required parameters. The wire will need to be divided into pieces of 3 centimeters each, and they are used to fasten the mesh together to form a small cellular structure.
The roof is attached on one side so that there is almost complete accessibility to the chickens. The metal box must be mobile, suitable for carrying and transporting birds.
Wooden structures
A cage for broiler chickens with your own hands, as well as for simple chickens, can be made of wood. This is an environmentally friendly material that will make it easy for the chicks to breathe. Plywood or planks are suitable for constructing walls. These homemade cages are simple and convenient. But they can be heavy to carry.
As a building material, plywood or boards, mesh, a piece of galvanized sheet, several fasteners. In the work you will need to use a jigsaw, which is used to cut plywood if you are making a plywood house.
The front wall is made of mesh, and the ceiling part is folding. Each part is fastened to another with nails. The floor part is made from fine mesh. A removable pallet is constructed from a galvanized piece, which will be placed below the floor.
Tip: To keep the chicks light and warm, you can install frosted light bulbs (one or a pair) under the ceiling. It must be remembered that chickens get irritated from too bright lighting.
Battery cage
For experienced breeders poultry The question of how to make cages for broilers will not be a problem. They know that with a large number of livestock, it is better to build a battery system for keeping and feeding birds.
The basis of the structure will be a tier of boxes arranged one above the other. The work you will need: metal sheet and plywood, bars, nets and fasteners.
A frame structure is constructed from timber. Plywood will be used for the side walls. The fine mesh covering will serve as a floor for the chicks.
To prevent garbage and bird droppings from polluting the room and creating a dangerous bacterial environment for living creatures, you need to use a tray, which can be easily made from a galvanized piece of metal. A wooden lid is made at the top of the cage.
One of the side walls should be left open to allow light and air for the chicks to see and care for. It is made of mesh, so containers with food and water can be placed near it.
Part to part is fastened with screws and nails. Assembling the battery begins from the bottom. To make the cage stationary, several wheels are screwed on.
Construction of a mobile enclosure
Do-it-yourself cage structures for chickens and broilers are available in different sizes and from almost any non-toxic materials. To ensure optimal spatial and other conditions for raising poultry, you can build a mobile, spacious aviary.
It is better to purchase welded wire mesh with a small cross-section; industrial poultry houses are equipped with cages made of this material. The mesh should not be heavy, but it needs to hold its shape and have small cells so that not a single chicken can fit into the hole.
At some poultry farms or in a building materials store, it is possible to purchase a mesh made of welded galvanized metal with cells of 16 by 24 millimeters and a wire diameter of two millimeters. Rolls or sheets (cards) are available for sale. It will be a little easier to work with cards. Rolled fabric will take longer to cut. You should also stock up on aluminum wire.
The cards are cut lengthwise to create a pair of strips of the same height. The cut is made using wire cutters, which are used to process each wire. The rolled mesh is cut into pieces equal to the length of the structure.
Until the chickens grow up and can live in a regular chicken coop, the cage should become a comfortable home for them. Yes, you can purchase a ready-made design, but its features will be no different from the one made at home. In addition, with financial side You will save a lot of money, and you will also acquire construction skills, which will not be superfluous on the farm.
It is extremely important that a homemade chicken cage is mobile. At the same time, it must provide reliable protection, otherwise one day you may lose your entire livestock. Select designs for light cages that can be moved from place to place without much effort, choosing the best option for the little chicks.
To place day-old chicks inside the cage, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of delimiting the internal space. For example, install additional walls and a solid floor so that small lumps do not catch a cold and damage the paws. There must also be a light source, the additional function of which will be heating.
At home, it is not always possible to closely monitor the chickens, so the cage should be as protected as possible. To protect the chicks from sudden rain, you will have to make a good roof or canopy with your own hands. On fine days they will protect kids from the scorching sun.
The size of the cage directly depends on your goals. If you are planning to have chickens for yourself (that is, no more than 20 birds), then a simple mesh structure will do just fine. If you have plans to seriously engage with birds, then select drawings taking into account future prospects. In this case, it is advisable to make a cage in several tiers in order to accommodate the maximum possible number of birds in a small area.
If we take into account that young animals will live in a cage for up to 45 days, then per 1 sq. m. you can accommodate up to 50 heads, daily allowance - up to 70. This should become a guideline for you when determining the size of the structure.
We make it ourselves
So, you have decided to make your own cage for raising chickens at home. The main guide for you will be the photos and videos presented in our article. Also pay attention to the finished drawings - you can learn a lot of interesting things from them.
If you have at least some construction skills, then you can make a cage fairly quickly. Before you start, make a list necessary materials, so that during the process it does not become clear that you are missing something. You should not choose an intricate drawing; a simple design will do for the first time. The main thing is that it is reliable enough and comfortable for the feathered inhabitants. You can see how to make a cage in the video from the 100 PUDOV channel, well detailed description for a simple project, read on.
Tools and materials
As an example, we chose a simple cage with wooden walls. To make it you don’t need a lot of material, so it can be safely called budget.
The list of what you need looks like this:
- plywood or OSB board;
- mesh with a cell of 1x1 cm;
- galvanized metal sheet;
- nails and screws for fastening;
- electrical cable and socket;
- saw;
- screwdriver
As you can see, the list is small, and you probably already have some of it on your household. In general, let's start construction.
Step-by-step instruction
- In accordance with the dimensions of your drawing, we cut blanks from plywood for the walls and ceiling. There should be four parts in total: two walls at the ends, one side and the ceiling. For greater convenience, make a folding ceiling, which will allow you to easily care for chickens, change their water and add feed.
- It is better to make the front wall from a mesh so that you can freely observe the movement of the chicks and their condition. In turn, the chickens will also see what is happening around them and will not feel like they are in a confined space.
- We fasten the walls together with screws. We attach the mesh floor. Make a tray from a sheet of galvanized metal that will serve to collect droppings.
- Attach the socket to the ceiling and connect the cable. Now there will be light and heating inside the cage.
Agree, making a cage for raising chickens at home with your own hands is not at all difficult. Now you can put young animals into it and watch them transform into adult chickens.
Photo gallery
Video “Building a cell with your own hands”
A video from maks-sheriff will tell you how to make a comfortable and functional cage with your own hands. Do not miss detailed instructions.
In the process of raising chickens, a poultry farmer may encounter certain difficulties. There are often problems with choosing suitable place for their content. For this purpose, a cage for raising chickens is perfect, which is not difficult to make with your own hands.
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Benefits of Cage Content
Even before the chicks are purchased, care must be taken to ensure that the proper conditions are created for them.
The cage for chicks should be placed in a separate room. Particular attention should be paid to the process of manufacturing the cage structure, because the chicks will be able to fully develop only if there are no negative factors.
Among the main advantages of keeping chicks in cages, experienced poultry farmers highlight the following:
How to build a chicken coop: step-by-step instructions
In order to build such a cage, it is necessary first of all to study all the design features presented in the drawing.
The work will require the following materials:
- mesh with cells maximum 7x7 cm;
- wooden slats;
- plywood sheets;
- metal plates;
- fastening materials.
Assembling the structure in stages:
All that remains is to place containers for food and drink in the cage, and then install it at a suitable height.
How to make a metal chicken cage
This simple design can be used in cases where the brood is very small and was born in the warm season.
The process of making such a cage is incredibly simple. You don’t need to be a specialist to build such a product yourself.
You will need the following materials and tools:
- wire mesh;
- aluminum wire;
- roulette;
- scissors designed for working with metal.
The work is carried out in several stages:
- The mesh must be cut into several parts. You should get two sidewalls, a pair of end elements and a roof.
- The wire is cut into pieces only 4 cm long. Using these pieces, all elements are connected into a single structure.
- The roof is fixed only on one side. This is necessary so that the cage can be easily opened in the future.
- If necessary, the bottom is additionally mounted. The option without a bottom is used for walking chickens on a green lawn.
Multi-tiered chicken cage: manufacturing instructions
Those poultry farmers who do not yet have enough experience in making cages can try to make such a multifunctional structure, but for this it is necessary to develop a clear plan of action and draw a drawing.
It will look like this.
Absolutely all measurements must be included in such a scheme. It is highly not recommended to neglect this point, since it is thanks to the drawing that you will get an idea of how much building materials will be needed during the work. After this, it will be possible to begin the main work, which boils down to the following actions:
All that remains to be done is to install the feeders and drinking bowls, after which the chicks can be moved into the cage.
Making a cage from wood
This spacious cage with solid walls made of wood can be assembled by any poultry farmer. The weight of the structure is quite large, so moving it from indoors to outdoors will be very difficult.
Such products are used exclusively when keeping birds indoors, without providing the opportunity to walk.
Naturally, in order to avoid mistakes, before starting work you need to make a drawing that should look like this.
After the drawing has already been transferred to paper, you need to make sure that all the necessary materials are available:
- wooden boards;
- metal fine mesh;
- sheets of metal or plastic pallet;
- fastening materials.
When you already have everything you need at hand, you can begin the main construction work:
The structure is fixed on a stand, which is knocked down from timber in advance.
This is necessary so that rodents cannot get close to the chicks. This stand should be supported by supports to accommodate a pallet made from sheet metal.
This structural element can be replaced with a plastic one, which is sold in any specialized store.
Every breeder can cope with such a simple task as making cages for young animals. There are many variations of these designs. They can be portable and stationary, single-tiered and multi-tiered.
If you follow all the recommendations for their manufacture, difficulties cannot arise during the assembly process. At minimal cost, you can get a reliable, strong and durable cage in which your pets will feel as comfortable as possible.
Chickens that have just hatched from an egg should be shrouded in care and attention. It takes some effort to turn a small chicken into a healthy chicken. We need to take care and protect them so that the result is positive. They need to be protected from crows, weasels and animals that are not averse to eating a small chick, and protected from rain and scorching sun.
Chicken cage
The chicken cage should be light and warm. If the cage will be taken outside, there should be a canopy there, it will protect from sun and rain.
The size will depend on the number of chickens that will live there. If there are few chickens, then it may be small and without a bottom. If there will be a large number of chickens, then the cage can be made multi-story to save space. The large cage must have a bottom that can be removed for easy cleaning. . Live in such a cage, animals can live up to 45 days, then they need to be moved to a pen. One square meter of a house can accommodate fifty chickens.
How to make a chicken cage with your own hands?
You can make a chicken coop with your own hands without any problems. But you need to approach this task wisely, because the safety and health of small birds will depend on your work. The work will consist of several stages:
- The first step is to decide how many chickens will live in the cage.
- then decide on the size of the house and the materials from which it will be built;
- after that make a construction drawing.
Cells can be divided:
- for mobile metal ones;
- on simple wooden ones.
Metal mobile chicken coop
A few young animals can live in such a cage, and it is used when it is warm. It is easy to manufacture and can be installed outdoors . To make it, you will need:
- Wire mesh, cell diameter 16 by 24 millimeters.
- Aluminum wire.
- Pliers.
Cut the metal mesh into five pieces, choose the size yourself. Two pieces will go to the sides, two to the ends, and one to the roof. The length of your blanks should be approximately three centimeters. The structure must be fastened so that it can move. To ensure you have access to the chicks, secure the roof on one side only. Such a chicken coop can also have no bottom.
It folds easily and takes up little space.
A simple cage with wooden sides
You can make a chicken coop from wood or plywood. It is very easy to make such a cage with your own hands. It is very convenient, but it is not very easy to move.
Necessary materials:
First make a drawing of the house, and using it as a guide, cut the plywood sheet with a jigsaw. You should have four parts. Two will go to the end walls, one to the side, and the last to the ceiling. The ceiling should be removable to make it convenient to change water and add food. So you can see what are your chickens doing? and accordingly they saw the world, the walls can be made of mesh. The floor also needs to be made of fine mesh. Fasten all parts of the structure together with screws and nails. The tray must be removable and made of sheet metal; it will be located under the floor.
If possible and desired, you can provide heating in the cage. To do this, you will need four light bulbs with a power of 50 W. They are installed in the stream at the rear wall. When choosing light bulbs, give preference to matte ones, as bright light irritates babies.
Stationary battery cage
It is designed for a large number of chickens. They are mostly multi-story and located one above the other.
For construction you need:
- mesh with cells of different sizes;
- plywood sheets;
- sheets of metal;
- materials for fastening.
The frame is made of wooden blocks, focusing on the diagram. Side walls made of plywood sheets. The floor, as in the previous design, is made of mesh with small cells. The pallet is made of metal. The half-cell that is higher will be the ceiling for the one that is lower. Secure everything with dowels or nails.
The assembly of such a structure begins from the bottom cage.
To make it move easily, attach wheels to it.
Growing conditions
Cages must be provided with drinking bowls, which will be convenient for chickens. You can make them yourself from plastic bottles and nipple. You can also put a bowl in the cage and turn a jar of water into it, the water will quickly flow out, and the chickens will have time to drink.
Also think about feeders. One half of the feeder should be in the cage, the other - outside it. This arrangement of the feeder will allow you to easily clean it and fill it with food. And the bird will feed without scattering food or trampling it with its paws.
To keep your chickens healthy and growing well, they need cleanliness. This is why you need a tray; it collects all the garbage, droppings and feathers. Pallets are made with your own hands or bought in a store. They should be easy to access so that they can be cleaned without problems.
The little chicks also need to be provided with light. With its help they will eat and drink and even communicate with each other. They will be warm and calm.
How to properly warm chicks
There are two methods for this:
- Reflectors or high power lamps. Instead of a ceiling, they are installed in cages and heated to 60 W.
- To save energy, you can put a warm bottle of water in the cage.
To control the temperature in the poultry house, you need to install a thermometer. Once the chicks have hatched, it should be no more than 33 degrees. After ten days of their life, the temperature can be lowered to twenty-six degrees. You need to reduce it every week until the thermometer shows eighteen degrees. After the kids Five days old, they can be taken out into the fresh air. The sun's rays have a good effect on the health of the chicks; they do not allow rickets to develop.
When you start taking the chickens outside, do not let them out of the cage, as they will run away without a quonk. And in order for the chicks to feel comfortable in the cage, you need to cover it with durable material, above which there should be a polyethylene film. This will provide protection from drafts and predatory animals. At the same time, the sun's rays will easily enter the cage, and when there is too much of it, the chickens will be able to find shade.
Chicks with their chirping They will tell you what they are not happy with.
If you follow all the rules for building a chicken coop and adhere to all the conditions for keeping the chicks, you will achieve excellent results in raising chickens.
Keeping and raising broilers at home and farms- the occupation is very profitable. You can not only provide your family with nutritious and tasty meat, but also make a good profit from its sale. To achieve high bird weight gain in the shortest possible time, use cellular content broilers Cages for broiler chickens can be bought at farm stores or made by yourself.
Features of keeping broilers in cages
One of the main advantages is that you can assemble a broiler cage independently, even without special skills.
The disadvantages of raising broiler chickens in cages include:
The most heavy expenses will be necessary only in the preparatory period, in the future with keeping broiler chickens There are practically no downsides. And the result will be getting a large amount of meat in a short time.
Basic requirements for broiler cages
Each structure is equipped with manure removal elevators, water and feed supply system. In a private backyard, cage batteries are removed manually, so you need to think through and build them in such a way that it is convenient to remove droppings, feed and water the birds.
Chickens are not kept alone, but at least four to seven individuals are placed in one compartment. It is taken into account that for ten broiler chickens one square meter of cell room.
On farms, with a large number of birds, from ten to twenty-five birds are raised in one section, placing cages in three or four tiers.
Broiler room
Chicken houses are placed in a dry, warm room, where there should be no dampness and drafts. The required air temperature in the cold season is maintained using electric lamps, heating pads or other heat sources.
In summer, cage structures with birds can be taken outside, placing them under a canopy. When it gets colder, the cells return indoors. To make the structures easy to move, they are equipped with wheels.
Lighting
When growing broiler chickens in the first twenty days, lighting devices above the cages should be turned on around the clock. As the bird grows, the lighting is first turned off for thirty minutes, then for an hour, and so on until the indicator reaches sixteen hours a day.
The intensity of light also changes with the age of chickens. It should be per square meter:
- up to ten days of age of chickens - 4 W;
- up to twenty days of age - 2 W;
- for chickens from the twentieth day of life - 1 W.
Air temperature
At home, when broilers are kept in battery cages, small chickens are kept on the upper tiers, where it is warmer. Cells are heated electric lamps installed above them.
Making broiler cages with your own hands
Since broiler chickens are heavy and gain more and more weight every day, the material for cage structures should be chosen that is durable. The floor covering must have a thickness of at least 20 mm. In addition, diagonal reinforcement of the structure should be provided.
To make a cage in which eight birds will be raised, you will need the following materials:
Stages of work:
- Prepare six racks, the dimensions of each of which should be 7x7x165 cm.
- Cut three slats ten centimeters long, six slats 3 cm long and two slats five centimeters long. Their width should be two centimeters.
- Make nine side walls from plywood, cutting it to dimensions of 57.5 x 30.5 cm.
- Attach the plywood walls to the frame.
- Build a pallet measuring 30x66x20 cm from metal sheets.
- The roof can be metal or plywood with dimensions of 140x70 cm.
- Build and attach the front part of the structure from the mesh.
- Place drinking bowls and feeders in front of the cage.
At home, it is recommended to install ready-made chicken houses at a height of at least seventy centimeters from the floor. Broilers are very sensitive to cold, and cold creeping across the floor or a draft can harm them.
Do-it-yourself broiler cage is ready and installed. Now you can place and raise chickens in it.
DIY cage-aviary
In the warm season, broiler chickens can be kept outside by building an enclosure for them, which can be either single-tiered or consist of several tiers. Multi-tiered cage structures will save space on the site, and caring for birds in them will be convenient and simple.
Aviaries are large structure with mesh floor, the dimensions of which for ten individuals should be 2x1.2 meters. The tray is installed under the cage, and drinkers are installed along its edges.
Necessary materials:
- reinforcing plates;
- large sheets of plywood;
- metal grid;
- screws;
- metal plates or pipes for legs;
- sheets of metal;
- metal slats.
Manufacturing process:
- The frame is constructed from metal sheets.
- From the pipe or metal plates The legs are made to the required height.
- All elements are connected using metal slats.
- The side walls are made from mesh with large holes. Through the mesh cells, birds should freely reach drinkers and feeders.
- Pallets for manure are made from metal sheets, which must have high sides. A sheet of plywood is placed on top of them.
- Feeders and drinking bowls can be made from metal sheets, or can be purchased at the store.
How are broiler cages equipped?
In a homemade cage for broiler chickens special equipment is installed, which can be purchased at a farm store or made independently.
