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The RSPCA "Welfare standards for laying hens and pullets" indicates that the stocking rate must not exceed 1,000 birds per hectare (10 m 2 per hen) of range available and a minimum area of overhead shade/shelter of 8 m 2 per 1,000 hens must be provided. Free-range farming of egg-laying hens is increasing its share of the market.
Mortalities, due mainly to cannibalism, can be up to 15% in egg-laying flocks housed in aviaries, [11] straw yards, [12] and free-range systems. [13] Because egg-laying strains of chickens can be kept in smaller group sizes in cage systems, cannibalism is reduced, [ 10 ] leading to a lowered trend in mortality as compared to non-cage systems.
In 1900, average egg production was 83 eggs per hen per year. In 2000, it was well over 300. In the United States, laying hens are butchered after their second egg laying season. In Europe, they are generally butchered after a single season. The laying period begins when the hen is about 18–20 weeks old (depending on breed and season).
A furnished cage, sometimes called enriched cage, colony cage or modified cage, is a type of cage used in poultry farming for egg laying hens.Furnished cages have been designed to overcome some of the welfare concerns of battery cages (also called 'conventional' or 'traditional cages') whilst retaining their economic and husbandry advantages, and also provide some of the welfare advantages ...
In February 2016, 90 percent of egg-laying hens in Canada lived in battery cages. That month, negotiations between egg farmers, animal welfarists, and the government resulted in a moratorium on construction of new battery cages from 1 April 2017 and a gradual 15-year phaseout of battery cages towards enriched cage or cage-free systems by 2036 ...
Forced molting typically involves the removal of food and/or water from poultry for an extended period of time to reinvigorate egg-laying. Forced molting, sometimes known as induced molting, is the practice by some poultry industries of artificially provoking a flock to molt simultaneously, typically by withdrawing food for 7–14 days and sometimes also withdrawing water for an extended period.
Prolactin injection in hens provokes egg laying to stop within a few days, vitellum reabsorption, ovary regression (hens only have a left ovary [14]) and finally broodiness. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] However, attempts to stop broodiness by the administration of several hormones have failed because this state, once evoked, requires time to revert.
Egg laying hens: Cage-free egg production includes barn, free-range and organic systems. The UK is the largest free-range egg producer in the Europe. [ 21 ] Free-range systems are the most popular of the non-cage alternatives, accounting for around 57% of all eggs, compared to 2% in barns and 2% organic.