The advantages of large-scale tiered layer chicken cage systems include: multi-tiered cages that promote the healthy growth of laying hens and increase egg production; an intelligent water supply system that enables centralized management, saves labor, facilitates immunization, and helps control the spread of diseases; as well as automatic egg collection and conveying systems. The specific advantages are as follows:

1. Multi-tier chicken cages can promote the healthy growth of laying hens.

The parameters for the multi-tiered layer chicken cage equipment are as follows: 1.2 meters in length, 1.25 meters in width (back-to-back width), and 62.5 centimeters in cage depth. Each tier features four nests, and a typical recommended height is four tiers. Each nest can accommodate eight laying hens, meaning one set can house up to 128 hens. As a result, this design offers superior space utilization and performance compared to conventional layer chicken cages. The standard parameters for conventional layer chicken cages are: 1.88 meters in length, 0.35 meters in width, and 0.37 meters in height; each row contains four cage units, and four tiers can hold a total of 128 hens. Multi-tiered, high-capacity layer chicken cages provide significantly more space than conventional cages, thereby promoting healthier growth and development of the hens. Multi-tiered chicken cages are not merely cages with metal mesh bottoms and essential heating equipment. High-quality multi-tiered cage systems are equipped with feeding mechanisms that effectively remove manure from around the flock, reducing the risk of disease transmission via feces and ensuring the hens’ healthy growth—thus safeguarding the interests of poultry farmers.

2. Increase egg production

In caged laying hens, nutrients are supplied through artificially administered formulated feed that is high in protein, energy, and essential nutrients. These nutrients precisely meet the needs of normal growth and development in laying hens and are rich in vitamins and minerals that are crucial for their healthy growth and development. Moreover, the feed contains substances that help prevent and treat diseases. Laying hens kept in cages have very little physical activity and thus consume very little energy. Consequently, all the nutrients absorbed from their feed—beyond what they need for basic physiological functions—are efficiently converted into egg production. As a result, caged laying hens experience minimal nutrient loss and consistently receive just the right amount of nutrients each day to meet their growth, development, and egg-laying requirements, achieving a perfect nutritional and physiological balance. Therefore, unlike free-range hens, caged hens do not require periods of rest or additional nutritional supplementation midway through their laying cycle. This explains why caged laying hens have exceptionally high egg production rates.

The egg-laying performance of free-range laying hens differs from that of caged or confined laying hens. The reason is that free-range hens obtain their food from two sources: first, artificially formulated feed tailored to meet the nutritional needs of hens during egg-laying, which is rich in nutrients; second, natural foods they forage freely in the wild as they roam around. Because free-range hens engage in extensive physical activity during their foraging and roaming, they consume large amounts of nutrients to fuel their movement and feeding. Consequently, a significant portion of the hens’ nutritional reserves is depleted during this period. To replenish their energy and recover their physical condition, free-range hens must periodically pause their egg-laying activities for one or several rest periods. As a result, during a typical egg-laying cycle, free-range hens lay roughly half or one-third as many eggs as caged hens. Generally, a healthy free-range hen can produce only about 250 to 300 eggs over a 550-day period.

In caged laying hens, during the peak egg-laying period, the henhouse is normally illuminated every night, and the hens are fed a nutritionally rich, artificially formulated diet around the clock. Typically, these hens can lay two eggs per 24-hour period, effectively boosting egg production. As long as the hens remain in good physical condition and receive an adequate supply of nutrients—including water and feed—caged laying hens will not pause their egg-laying activity throughout the entire laying cycle. On average, a normal laying cycle lasts up to about 430 days, though in most cases it exceeds 400 days. For conventionally caged laying hens, once they reach 500 days of age, their egg production gradually declines. After exceeding 550 days, it’s time to start retiring older hens and replacing them with newly hatched ones.

Healthy chickens raised in a healthy environment are more productive, and the Chunyi multi-tiered layer chicken cages enhance the hens' egg-laying potential.

3. Intelligent water supply system

The water supply lines for the tiered battery cage system are installed in the middle of the top of each cage level. Each cage is equipped with two nipple drinkers, providing water for the chickens on both the left and right sides of the cage. Below each nipple drinker, a V-shaped drip tray is positioned to collect any splashes of water that occur when the chickens drink. The collected water then evaporates naturally. In this way, splashes of water do not fall into the chicken manure, keeping the manure drier.

Filters, smart water meters, dosing devices, and pressure-reducing regulators are installed at the upstream end of each water line. By analyzing the digital data from the smart water meters, we can gain insight into the daily drinking habits of the flock and also assess their overall health status.

4. Centralized management, labor savings, convenient immunization, and control of disease transmission.

The manure removal system of the tiered layer chicken cage equipment features a unique structural design. Under each tier of chicken cages, there is a longitudinal manure removal belt. As a result, chicken droppings from each flock fall scattered onto these belts. Driven by longitudinally flowing air, most of the moisture in the droppings is carried out of the poultry house, significantly reducing the moisture content of the manure. Since the chicken droppings are dried in layers within the poultry house without undergoing fermentation, and given that they are thoroughly cleaned after each removal, the ammonia concentration inside the house remains extremely low, ensuring fresh air quality and creating ideal growing conditions for the chickens while minimizing disease incidence.

5. Automatic egg collection and conveying system

The automatic egg-collection and conveying system is an essential component of tiered battery cage equipment for laying hens. During the collection and conveyance of eggs, any single stage in the process can affect the rate of broken eggs. To ensure that the entire egg-collection and conveying process achieves optimal performance, the design of the egg-collection system takes into account the following two key issues:

(1) Issue with the soft and broken egg removal device: During the collection and conveyance of eggs, eggs are moved and rolled in a parallel manner. However, soft eggs, due to their delicate shells, cannot roll properly. As a result, at the transition point between the egg-collection machine’s outlet and the central egg-conveying line, soft eggs tend to accumulate, thereby obstructing the smooth passage of normal eggs. To address this issue, a soft-egg removal device is installed before the eggs enter the egg-collection machine. Eggs conveyed from the chicken coop’s egg trays are screened for soft and broken eggs prior to entering the egg-collection machine, thus preventing the aforementioned problem from occurring.

(2) Install an egg-diverting device at the connection point between the egg-collecting machine’s egg outlet and the central egg-conveying line. After eggs exit the egg-collecting machine, they roll directly onto the central egg-conveying line. However, since the egg-discharge claws are set at a certain angle, the eggs collide with each other during their rolling motion under the influence of momentum, leading to shell breakage. By installing an egg-diverting device, the eggs exiting the egg-collecting machine can gently roll onto the central egg-conveying line in an orderly manner, preventing any collisions between them. This ensures a smooth transition from the egg-collecting machine to the central egg-conveying line, from where the eggs are transported via the central line to the egg storage facility for grading and sorting. The adoption of an automated egg-collecting and central egg-conveying system in egg production significantly reduces labor requirements and lowers the rate of egg breakage.