With the aim of improving the welfare of laying hens, poultry farmers in Slovenia are moving, or have already moved from keeping laying hens in enriched cages to cage-free systems. Since very little is known about the current housing, equipment and management in these systems, we tried to fill this knowledge gap with the help of a questionnaire that was sent to the addresses of 72 breeders. The questionnaire was divided into several sections, the most important of which were: the housing system and the number of hens in that system, more detailed technical data on the poultry house, in the case of free-range or organic housing data on pasture, poultry house facilities, environmental control, manure management, and flock health. We recieved data from 26 breeders (36.1 % response rate) keeping laying hens in aviary (10 farms), indoor (6 farms), free-range (6 farms) and organic (4 farms) systems. In terms of equipment, available space, provision of an appropriate microclimate, and litter, all farms essentially comply with the relevant legislation. In terms of space, the smallest poultry houses are for free range (91.5 m2) and the largest poultry houses are for aviaries (419.6 m2). In 84.6 % of all farms, hens are supplied with water via nipple drinkers, while feed is mostly distributed through trough feeders with chain or spiral (78.9 % of farms) and pan feeders (21.1 % of farms). LED lamps (53.8 % of farms) and fluorescent lamps (38.5 % of farms) are most frequently used for lighting the laying hens. Windows have not yet been installed in more than one-third of poultry houses (38.5 %). Sawdust is used as litter in 50% of the farms surveyed, and wood shavings in 19.2 % of the farms. Only four farms have a winter garden next to the poultry house. None of the breeders surveyed have air purifiers and heat exchangers (recuperators) in their poultry houses.
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