Although the poultry industry has developed into an intensive management system over the past several decades, current trends are moving toward extensive systems with decreased hen-stocking density. However, there is limited information on the resource demands of such systems, particularly with regards to labor requirements. Labor h commitment per hen originally housed and hens surviving were evaluated for 4 different environments: range, cage-free, modified cage, and conventional cage. Within each system, 3 strains of brown egg layers were examined to determine whether production system influenced labor h. Data collection began at 33 wk of age and continued until 89 wk in all environments. Range systems demonstrated the highest labor h requirement for both the hens originally housed and hens surviving measurements, particularly during the summer months when pasture management within the paddocks was time consuming. Conventional and modified cage systems required the least time commitment with cage-free serving as an intermediate. Cage-free labor h increased toward the end of the cycle as maintaining litter quality within the house became more demanding. The cost of labor h was not offset by the price per dozen eggs produced, and the difference was greater in the extensive systems. This study supports previous findings that extensive layer production systems require greater labor h and provides an economic perspective to the increased time commitment.

尽管在过去的几十年中，家禽业已经发展成为集约化管理系统，但是当前的趋势正在朝着降低母鸡放养密度的广泛系统发展。但是，关于此类系统的资源需求的信息有限，尤其是在劳动力需求方面。在4种不同的环境中评估了每只母鸡和成活的母鸡的劳动强度：范围，无笼，改良笼和常规笼。在每个系统中，检查了3个棕色鸡蛋层菌株，以确定生产系统是否影响劳动h。数据收集始于33周龄，一直持续到所有环境中的89周龄。放养系统显示了原始饲养母鸡和存活的母鸡对劳动的最高要求，特别是在夏季，在牧场内进行牧场管理非常耗时。传统的和改进的笼式系统需要最少的时间投入，而无笼式系统是其中的一种。随着鸡舍质量的提高，无笼劳动h在周期结束时也增加了。劳动成本h不能被生产的每打鸡蛋的价格所抵消，在广泛的系统中，差异更大。这项研究支持以前的发现，即广泛的蛋鸡生产系统需要更多的劳动h，并为增加时间投入提供了经济前景。随着鸡舍质量的提高，无笼劳动h在周期结束时也增加了。劳动成本h不能被生产的每打鸡蛋的价格所抵消，在广泛的系统中，差异更大。这项研究支持以前的发现，即广泛的蛋鸡生产系统需要更多的劳动h，并为增加时间投入提供了经济前景。随着鸡舍质量的提高，无笼劳动时间在周期结束时也增加了。劳动成本h不能被每打鸡蛋的价格所抵消，在广泛的系统中，差异更大。这项研究支持以前的发现，即广泛的层生产系统需要更多的劳动h，并为增加时间投入提供了经济前景。