Challenges in alternative housing for laying hens are barren functional areas such as winter gardens and the occurrence of behavioral disorders. Environmental enrichment is a measure to deal with these problems. Therefore, an enrichment device offering maize silage automatically was tested in two winter gardens on-farm. The use of the winter gardens and the times individual hens stayed there and occupied themselves with the maize silage were determined in a temporary preference test. The proportion of residing hens was significantly larger in the enriched winter garden. The mean time individual hens stayed in the enriched winter garden ranged from 02:16 ± 02:22 (mm:ss) to 03:17 ± 02:27, whereas the time ranged from 00:18 ± 00:32 to 00:59 ± 01:19 in the other winter garden (p < .05). Once the enrichment device ran in both winter gardens, no differences were found between the observed parameters. On average, the hens occupied themselves with the enrichment material for 03:50 ± 02:12 to 05:01 ± 03:06. Thus, based on its use and acceptance by the laying hens, the automatic device provided adequate environmental enrichment.

产蛋鸡的替代住房面临的挑战是贫瘠的功能区，例如冬季花园和行为障碍的发生。丰富环境是解决这些问题的一种措施。因此，在农场的两个冬季花园中对一种自动提供玉米青贮饲料的浓缩设备进行了测试。临时偏好测试确定了冬季花园的使用情况以及母鸡在那儿居住并被玉米青贮饲料占据的时间。在丰富的冬季花园中，母鸡的比例显着增加。母鸡在丰富冬季花园中的平均停留时间为02:16±02:22（mm：ss）至03:17±02:27，而时间范围为00:18±00:32至00:59在另一个冬季花园中±01:19（p <.05）。一旦浓缩设备在两个冬季花园中运行，观察到的参数之间就不会发现差异。平均而言，母鸡在03:50±02:12到05:01±03:06期间都使用了丰富的材料。因此，基于蛋鸡的使用和接受，自动设备提供了足够的环境丰富性。