Could there be ideal battery cage?

[MyDream Hatcher]

Dear all,

First of all I made my thread tittle merely to get your attention so hopefully I would get all the ideas and advices I may get. Trust me... I am not going to put any hen nor rooster in a cage to small for them to event turn around.

I am expecting Australorps hatching eggs around November. In the future I would like to be able to tell which hens are laying and which are not for I personally think that their attributes as "utility breed" should play a prominent part in my future breeding program. But it is only logic that I would not expect good flock from unhealthy stressed hens.

So.... Any idea, advice, suggestion?

best regards,
Yukie from Indonesia

 

[MyDream Hatcher]

Huuuuffft..... I think I say it wrong... Maybe I should call it solitaire instead of battery, but then again I think solitaire also sounds terrible. Let's say that I build ideal sized solitaire cages (a competitive breeder suggested me 60 cm x 60 or something of floor space for each hen) for them to stay at night, they will go out during the day.
And no, I would definitely not using those wire that prevent them to sit....

 

[satay]

I have seperate cages off the main coop for my breeding hens. I seperate them when i want them to breed other times they free range with the rest. I have 5 australorp females and 1 male in a pen. It is smallish i guess but has plenty of room for them to move around etc. I guess you could do something similar if you want for individual hens as you said just make the cages big enough for them to be able to move around. If they all go out during the day you may not get the right hens going back into each cage during the night unless each hen has it's own run attached to the cage.

 

[MyDream Hatcher]

Thank you very Oz-e-chick.... I actually think that I will have to get each of them to their cages every afternoon, at least before I could build a fenced run attached tp each cage.