- ✓Compare floor and cage systems to make an informed choice
- ✓Equip a floor house: nest boxes, perches, litter, feeders and drinkers
- ✓Respect stocking density and settle the pullets successfully in either system
Two systems, two ways of working
There is no right system in absolute terms. The floor needs less money at the start but more attention to the litter and to eggs laid outside the nest boxes; cages need more money and flawless equipment, but make clean eggs and monitoring easier.
| Point | Floor on litter | Cages |
|---|---|---|
| Initial investment | Lower: house, litter, nest boxes, perches | Higher: cages and equipment to buy and maintain |
| Egg cleanliness | Depends on the nest boxes and collection; risk of floor eggs | The egg rolls out of the cage: fewer dirty eggs if the equipment is well adjusted |
| Monitoring | Hens mixed together: a sick hen is spotted less quickly | Each compartment can be seen at a glance |
| Droppings | The hen lives on the litter, which must stay dry | Droppings fall under the cages and must be removed regularly |
| Dependence on equipment | Low | High: a drinker or feeder failure affects a whole row |
Before choosing, ask yourself three questions: do I have the budget for good-quality equipment and its maintenance? Will my team be able to check every row every day? Does my house allow good ventilation for the planned number of hens?
On the floor: nest boxes, perches and litter
- Nest boxes in place, clean and lined, before laying starts (lesson 4). Placed in a quiet, dim spot, easy to reach; lining changed as soon as it is dirty. The number of nest boxes per hen was covered in level 5.
- Perches: hens like to sleep up high. Perches keep them off the litter at night and stop them sleeping in the nest boxes and soiling them. Some farmers close the nest boxes in the evening, after the last collection, and reopen them in the morning.
- Litter: dry and loose. Wet patches around the drinkers are removed at once. Damp litter gives dirty eggs and smells, and encourages disease.
A hen that gets into the habit of laying on the floor keeps it, and the others copy her. Collect floor eggs several times a day, very early, so that the other hens do not pick up the habit. Close off the dark corners where hens go to lay, and check that the nest boxes are numerous enough, clean and easy to reach.
In cages: the equipment must be perfect
In cages, the hen depends entirely on the equipment: she cannot go and find water or feed elsewhere. The technician’s job is to check every row, every day.
- Number of hens per compartment: the figure in the cage manufacturer’s instructions, without adding any.
- Nipple drinkers checked every day along the whole row: a blocked nipple leaves an entire compartment without water.
- Feeders filled regularly, feed spread along the whole length of the row.
- Egg roll-out: check that eggs roll out without knocks; a badly adjusted cage cracks eggs.
- Droppings removed regularly: smells, flies and stale air tire the hens.
- First day in the cage: if the pullets did not have the same type of drinker during rearing, check from day one that every compartment is drinking.
Stocking density and settling the pullets
- Floor density: about 4 to 5 hens per m² when it is 30 °C. Example: a 300 m² house takes about 1,200 to 1,500 hens.
- Drinkers: about 1 nipple for 10 hens at 30 °C (1 for 20 at 25 °C).
- Feeders: enough space for all the hens to eat at the same time; otherwise the strongest eat first and the weakest fall behind.
Ref. Lohmann, hot climate
In both systems, pullets are moved into the laying house at around 16 to 17 weeks, before the first eggs, into a house that has been washed, disinfected and fully equipped (lesson 4).
Source: Novogen (Novogen Brown management guide, 2024).
Adding hens beyond the planned density, on the floor or in cages, means more heat, more stress, more feather pecking (lesson 10), more dirty eggs, and often a falling laying rate. The house is filled according to the benchmarks, not according to the space left over.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Choose the system your team will be able to manage every day, not just the one you can afford to buy.
- ›In cages, budget for equipment maintenance; on the floor, plan for litter and enough nest boxes.
- ›Never overload the house: on the floor, 4 to 5 hens per m² when it is 30 °C.
For the technician
- ›On the floor: nest boxes clean and lined before laying, dry litter, floor eggs collected very early.
- ›In cages: every nipple, every feeder and every egg roll-out checked every day along the whole row.
- ›Respect the density and the number of hens per compartment; about 1 nipple for 10 hens at 30 °C.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- How many floor eggs did we collect this week?
- Did we find a blocked nipple or an empty feeder this week, and in which row?
- How many hens per m² (or per compartment) do we have today, and does it match the benchmark?
Key points
- •Floor: lower investment, but litter, nest boxes and floor eggs to watch.
- •Cages: higher investment, cleaner eggs, easy monitoring, but equipment to check every day.
- •Nest boxes in place, clean and lined before laying; perches for sleeping up high; dry litter.
- •On the floor at 30 °C: 4 to 5 hens per m², 1 nipple for 10 hens; room for all to eat at the same time.
- •In cages: the number of hens per compartment given in the manufacturer’s instructions, without adding any.
- •Pullets moved in at around 16 to 17 weeks, before the first eggs.