Cage

    The cage must meet health requirements livestock, have good ventilation, efficiency in management, protecting livestock from climatic influences and theft security and does not have a negative impact on surrounding environment. 

    The cage construction must be strong and durable. The arrangement and equipment of the cage should be able to provide work comfort for officers in the process production such as feeding, cleaning, inspection lust and health care.

Cow farm kennel

Read more: Sustainable Livestock

1. Location Requirements

The ideal location for building a cage is an area that is quite far from residential areas but is easily accessible. The cage must be separated from the residence by a minimum distance of 10 meters and sunlight must be able to penetrate the yard of the cage.

Some considerations in choosing a cage location include:

a. Availability of water sources for drinking, bathing cattle and clean the cage.

b. Close to food sources.

c. Easy transportation, especially for feed procurement and marketing

d. Existing area can be expanded.

2. Cage construction

  • Framework

Made of iron, iron concrete, wood and bamboo adapted to the purpose and existing conditions. The choice of cage material should be adjusted to the economic capacity and business objectives.

  • Floor

The floor of the cage must be strong, durable, not slippery and not too rough, easy to clean and able to support the load on it. The floor of the cage can be compacted soil, impermeable concrete or wood.

Usually the ground floor is given additional litter in the form of sawdust or husks, and other materials such as lime/dolomite as base base. When the condition of the cage litter muddy, do the addition of mixed sawdust with lime/dolomite.

The floor of the cage is concrete or wood preferably tilted back for easy disposal dirt and keep the floor dry. tilt floor ranges from 2° – 5°.

Cage floor slope and gutter size
  • Roof

Made of tile, zinc, thatch, asbestos and others. For hot areas / lowlands, it is better to use tile material. Based on the shape of the cage roof, there are several models roof, namely the roof of the monitor, semi monitor, gable and shade. The roof model for highland areas should use shade or gable, while for lowlands it should be a monitor or semi monitor.

Various models of the roof of the cage
  • Wall
    Made of walls, wood, bamboo or other building materials. In the lowlands, where the air temperature is hot and there are no strong winds, the cage wall is designed to be more open and in the highlands and the air is cold or in coastal areas where the wind is strong, the cage walls are closed or tight.
  • Cage equipment

A. A manger, which is a place for feeding and/or drinking with a size following the width of the cage. The cage has a width of sometimes 1.5 meters, so the length of the feed area ranges from 90-100 cm and the drinking area ranges from 50-60 cm. While the width of the manger is 50 cm, and the height of the outside is 60 cm and the inside is 40 cm and so on is adjusted.


B. Sewer, is a channel for sewage and urine. The size of the cage gutter is adjusted to the conditions of the cage and the purpose of maintenance. The size of the gutter should be 30-40 cm wide and 5-10 cm deep.
C. Manure shelters, size and shape are adjusted to the conditions of the land and the type of cage. Disposal of manure from the cage is carried out every day through sewers and distributed to shelters. The reservoir serves for the process drying and decomposition of feces into compost.
D. Cage equipment includes shovels, brooms, brushes, and other cleaning tools.

3. CAGE TYPE

a. Individual Cage

    The type of cage is for the maintenance of one cattle, one cage or there is a separation between the cows. The area of the individual cage is adjusted to the body size of the cow, which is about 2.5 meters long and 1.5 meters wide. The advantages of individual cages compared to group cages are: cows are calmer and less stressed, feeding can be controlled according to livestock needs, avoiding competition for feed and noise in the cage. According to the arrangement, there are several types of individual cages, namely;

  • One line with the head in the same direction.
  • Two rows with the head in the same direction, with the aisle in the middle.
  • Two rows with opposite head positions, with the aisle in the middle.

b. Group Cage

Type of cage rearing several cattle, freely in the cage.

Group cage

4. Nursery Special Cage

a. Cow Cowshed

Aims for the maintenance of mothers starting from pregnant cows (from 7 months pregnant) to children born after weaning (aged 4 months to 7 months).

b. Enlargement Cage

Place for rearing calves (calf) after weaning (aged 4 months to 7 months) until the age of ± 18 months. Usually use group cages. The cage capacity for rearing per head is 2.5 – 3 m. The rearing cage aims to avoid competition with young/adult cows. Cattle kept in one cage must have the same or almost the same body condition, to avoid competition with each other. The next maintenance after the rearing cage is done by separating the males and females in individual cages or group cages so that children cannot suckle from their mothers.

c. Clamp Cage

Cage to carry out IB marriage activities, treatment, disease control and so on. The cage construction must be strong to withstand the movement of cows and the size of the cage cage is 110 cm long, 70 cm wide and 110 cm high.

Clamp cage


d. Stud Cage

A special cage for the rearing of beef cattle. The construction of the male cage must be strong and able to withstand impact and push and provide comfort and flexibility for livestock. The area of the male cage is 270 cm X 220 cm.

e. Quarantine Cage

Sometimes quarantine is used to isolate livestock from other livestock for the purpose of treatment and prevention of the spread of a disease. The cage cage is located separately from the other cages.

Quarantine Cage


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