System Overviewe
The Aviary Laying System is a welfare-focused housing for laying hens, featuring multi-tiered structures that support natural behaviors-roosting (via sturdy, elevated perches) and foraging (with accessible feed zones).
It boosts hen well-being, improves egg quality (fewer cracked shells), and optimizes space use for efficiency. This system also meets key global welfare standards, such as the EU Directive 1999/74/EC and U.S. GAP Level 2.
Compare differences
Comparison with H-type cage rearing
| Comparison Dimensions | H Type Cage rearing System (Traditional cage rearing) | Aviary Laying System(Improved cage rearing) | Core differences |
| Core positioning | With "maximizing space utilization and reducing breeding costs" as the core objective, the focus is on prioritizing production efficiency. | With "balancing animal welfare and productivity" as its core principle, the focus is on improving welfare and ensuring compliance. | H-type cage rearing is "efficiency-oriented," while welfare-oriented cage rearing is "both welfare and efficiency-oriented." |
| Space allocation | Each animal has limited space (only 300-400 cm² per laying hen, about the size of an A4 sheet of paper), and they are stacked in multiple layers (commonly 3-4 layers), just enough to meet basic survival needs. | Space can be expanded by 30%-100% (for laying hens ≥750cm²/hen), and multi-level designs are also supported. Each cage has space reserved for movement (allowing the hens to stand, turn around, and extend their wings). | The living space in welfare cages is more than twice that of H-type cages, upgrading them from "barely surviving" to "meeting their basic physiological needs." |
| behavioral facility configuration | There are no functional facilities; the cage only contains a food trough and a water trough, and the animals cannot express natural behaviors (sand bathing, resting, nesting, etc.). | Standard core behavioral facilities include: perches (for birds to roost), private egg-laying boxes (for the need for concealment when laying eggs), sand baths (for cleaning feathers), and non-slip footrests. | This is the most crucial difference – welfare-oriented cage rearing solves the core problem of "behavioral deprivation" in H-type cage rearing, reducing animal stress. |
| Animal health and stress | Overcrowding leads to a high risk of cross-infection (frequent outbreaks of respiratory and parasitic diseases), severe fighting among animals (vent pecking, feather pecking), and high levels of stress hormones. | Spacious environments combined with distraction-inducing behavioral facilities reduce disease transmission rates by 30%-50%, decrease fight injuries, and significantly lower stress levels. | Welfare-oriented cage rearing can reduce medical costs at the farm level and decrease production abnormalities (such as soft-shelled eggs and broken eggs in laying hens). |
| Space utilization and breeding density | High stocking density per unit area (15-20 laying hens per square meter), maximizing land utilization. | The stocking density is slightly lower (8-12 laying hens per square meter), but still higher than free-range/organic farming. The multi-level design retains the space advantage of cage farming. | H-type cages offer higher short-term space utilization, but the density reduction in welfare cages is controllable and does not affect large-scale farming. |
| Difficulty of breeding management | It has a simple structure, is highly adaptable to mechanized feeding, manure removal, and egg collection, and has low labor costs. However, manure accumulation can easily breed bacteria. | Retaining the advantages of mechanized cage rearing (adaptable to automatic feeding and conveyor belt manure removal), only requiring additional maintenance of behavioral facilities (such as regular cleaning of the sand bath), with a slight increase in labor costs. | The two methods have similar management difficulty, and welfare cage rearing does not require significant changes to the breeding process. |
| Productivity (Short-term vs Long-term) | Initial equipment investment is low, and short-term breeding costs are low, but the product has no premium and is prone to fluctuations in production performance due to disease/stress (such as a sudden drop in egg production rate of laying hens). | The initial equipment investment is 10%-20% higher than that of H-type cage farming, but the products can be certified as "welfare eggs/meat," with a market premium of 20%-50%, and low long-term compliance costs. | H-type cage rearing is suitable for short-term, low-cost farming, while welfare cage rearing is suitable for companies seeking long-term, stable returns and a high-end market. |
| Applicable Scenarios | This is suitable for small and medium-sized livestock farms facing land shortages, prioritizing short-term cost control, and targeting the low-end market (for short-term transitional use). | Aligned with policy guidance emphasizing livestock welfare, and encouraged and promoted in many regions, this aligns with the "animal-friendly" consumption demand in the high-end market. | The core difference in scenarios lies in the choice between "short-term gains" and "long-term sustainability". |
Main components and parts
Welfare-focused cage structure
Animal welfare cages are designed with animal welfare as the core principle. Compared with traditional cages, they provide more space for animals to move around and are equipped with facilities that meet the animals' natural behaviors (such as resting, grooming, and moving). They also take into account environmental conditions such as ventilation and comfortable bedding. They are commonly used in livestock and poultry farming and laboratory animal husbandry to reduce animal stress and ensure their physiological and behavioral health.
Automatic egg retrieval system
The automatic egg collection system for welfare cage rearing is a device that is suitable for this scenario and balances efficient egg collection with chicken welfare. It consists of a low-friction egg collection belt, guide baffles, cleaning rollers, and conveying/temporary storage devices, and is mostly laid out along the side or bottom of the cage group. Its egg collection belt runs smoothly to prevent stress and avoids the chicken's core activity area. Some have anti-pinch design, and it can also replace manual labor to reduce intensity and keep the eggs clean. It is suitable for multi-layer layouts to improve efficiency.
Automated feeding system
The feeding system for welfare cage rearing is a device adapted to this scenario, taking into account both chicken welfare and feeding efficiency. It consists of a feed storage tower, conveying pipes and quantitative feeders, and is mostly arranged along the top or side of the cage group. It can accurately measure the amount of feed to avoid chickens fighting for food. The feed trough is positioned according to the chickens' feeding habits. Some have anti-spillage design. It can also be automated to reduce labor intensity, ensure that chickens eat evenly, and is suitable for multi-layer layouts to improve breeding efficiency.
Automatic manure removal system
The automatic manure removal system for welfare cage rearing is a device that is suitable for this scenario and takes into account both environmental cleanliness and chicken welfare. It consists of scrapers/conveyors, manure channels, and manure storage devices, and is mostly located below the cage group. Its smooth operation reduces stress on chickens, can remove manure in time to prevent pollution, and some have anti-clogging designs. It can also replace manual labor to reduce labor intensity, ensure hygiene inside the cage, and is suitable for multi-layer layouts to improve breeding efficiency.
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