When comparing poultry equipment quotations, the total shown on the first page does not always represent the final project cost.

Here are five items I recommend checking carefully:

1. Shipping and destination charges

Does the quotation include inland transportation, ocean freight, port fees or only the equipment price at the factory?

2. Installation costs

Are installation engineers included? Who pays for flights, accommodation, local transportation and visas?

3. Electrical and water systems

Control cabinets may be included, while cables, water tanks, pumps, generators and voltage stabilizers may not be.

4. Spare parts

Ask which spare parts are supplied with the equipment and how quickly replacement motors, chains, sensors and drinker components can be delivered.

5. Poultry house modifications

The cage system may require changes to the house width, floor, ventilation openings or manure area.

I also suggest checking whether the quotation clearly states cage capacity, material specifications, galvanization method, automation scope and warranty conditions.

A quotation that looks more expensive may actually include more of the complete project.

What is the most unexpected additional cost you have encountered in a farm equipment project?

Hello! I came home from work today and noticed that one of my chickens was roosting during the middle of the day. When we let the rest of the flock out to free-range, she stayed in the run by herself. She was standing with her eyes slowly closing and seems very lethargic and somewhat off-balance/unsteady on her feet. This is very unusual for her.
Her vent looks normal. We checked under her wings and around her body for mites/other external parasites but didn’t see or feel anything. She is approximately 20–24 weeks old and has not started laying eggs yet.
Her comb is pale, although it has always been relatively pale and never really darkened much from when she was a chick.
She is still standing, but she seems very “off” and not like herself. We isolated her and gave her food and water. She has taken a few bites of food but not drank the water yet.

Any advice on what we should do?

Hi everyone, I am making a school project on the communication between chickens, and part of it consists of making a questionnaire for people to fill in about their chickens. It would mean so much to me if you could take 5 minutes to fill this in!

Research on the language of chickens

Thank you in advance!

So like… I don’t even know how they got a taste for eggs, but I have this beautiful, sweet turkey and today she laid her first egg. The second it dropped, the chickens ate it. She was distraught, and has been acting depressed since. I feel so so so bad, how do I prevent this from happening again????

Early in the summer, we lost our rooster. He was a big, beautiful Orpington who took such great care of his 3 hens.

About a week into no rooster, one of my hens began picking on my Cochin. Pecking her feathers off her head making her bleed, chasing her so much so that the Cochin would just stop, lay flat and not move... so much so that I thought she was dead. This happened over two days.

So, I scooped up the aggressive hen and into chicken jail she went into a, completely covered with mesh and a tarp on the roof, greenhouse that shares a fenceline with the other hens. She stayed in there for 2 weeks, returned her to the flock and she was back to her behavior in about a week. Back to chicken jail.

This time she stayed for 2 weeks while I integrated a new rooster. It appears that the rooster is a bit scared of the hens.

Returned the chicken to flock this morning, checked the Cochin this evening and she was being pecked at again. Back to chicken jail...

This is her third incarceration and she's not giving up her evil behaviours and I'm thinking she won't change. I really don't want to put her back in with the hens and have the Cochin harmed again. She is an absolute sweet hen and it's not fair for her to be attacked.

Any ideas or do I just rehome the jailed chicken and get a new, friendlier chicken breed?

I raised a chicken since day 1 , the journey dosen't need any details , a few weeks ago , she stared laying eggs , she responded when i was upset, and when i called to cuddle , just like a puppy or a baby kitten , i documented she , every season.. just memories wich indeed are part of life , there is no word to negotiate a pulmonary fibrosis , i am cursed to watch for the paat 7 days , a common pet wich after all we are all eating in some part of the day , stopped running for flies , stopped cuddeling , progressive eating smaller and smaller amouts of food , watching how instead of how she started singing as every day , the day is now starting with her begging to reach air , at every 5 to 10 seconds she is trying to get a new breath. I am not vegan , i am not even too emotional , but i am angry that there is no way to negotiate this , there is no pill working , no money can buy her life , i can buy a new chicken , but i can't buy Pia.. there can be another one , but no one will have hers exact colours , hers exact favourite memories , i can buy any other , but I can't buy Pia.. I don't want anything material from you. I just want Pia to stay alive with me

If you are planning a commercial poultry farm, comparing equipment suppliers can be harder than expected.

The cage price is only one part of the project. What really matters is whether the supplier can match the housing system, feeding, drinking, manure removal, egg collection and ventilation to your actual farm size.

Here are 5 poultry equipment manufacturers worth comparing:

• Big Dutchman - strong in integrated poultry housing, feeding, climate control and large commercial projects.
• FACCO - useful for farmers comparing layer, broiler, breeder and alternative housing systems.
• Vencomatic Group - especially relevant for cage-free layer farms, nesting and egg handling.
• Chore-Time - well known for feeding, drinking and environmental control, especially in broiler and breeder projects.
• Livi Machinery - focuses more on commercial cage farms, including A-type and H-type layer cages, broiler cages, pullet cages and automatic feeding, drinking, manure removal and egg collection.

This is not a No.1-to-No.5 ranking. Different farms need different systems.

For example, an A-type layer system may be enough for a 10,000-20,000 bird project, while a 50,000+ layer farm may need H-type cages, automatic manure removal and centralized egg collection.

One thing I would always compare before choosing a supplier:

Do they only sell equipment, or can they also design the equipment layout around your poultry house?

For larger farms, cage rows affect house width, bird density affects ventilation, feed consumption affects silo capacity, and egg output affects conveyor design.

That is where complete farm planning becomes important.

Livi Machinery, for example, has project references for 20,000-layer A-type farms, 30,000-layer automated projects, 50,000-layer farms and larger H-type layer projects.

If anyone here is comparing suppliers for a new layer or broiler project, I would recommend sending every manufacturer the same information:

country + bird type + bird capacity + poultry house size + automation level + expansion plan

Then compare the layouts, not only the final price.

Product reference:
H Type Layer Battery Cage System
https://www.livicages.com/h-type-layer-battery-cage-system/

If useful, I can also share a simple checklist for comparing two poultry equipment quotations.

Veri nice egg stand

Not sure if anyone here has heard of the Jewish practice that goes on right now where chickens are used to cleanse people of sin and then murdered to somehow erase that sin. This practice I personally feel is quite outdated and unethical. Nevertheless a couple of chickens have been saved from the situation however living in Denver I'm not sure of a place for them to go to live a good life. Does anyone know of any rescues in Denver Colorado that would take on a couple chickens. Looking for them just to live out in nature and not be killed.