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Photograph of two hen egg yolks, one from a commercial egg operation and one from a free-range backyard hen. The yolk of the backyard egg is bright orange. Free-range eggs may be broader in definition and have more of an orange colour to their yolks [ 30 ] owing to the abundance of greens and insects in the birds' diet if actually allowed ...
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.
A free range pastured chicken system. Pastured poultry also known as pasture-raised poultry or pasture raised eggs is a sustainable agriculture technique that calls for the raising of laying chickens, meat chickens (broilers), guinea fowl, and/or turkeys on pasture, as opposed to indoor confinement like in battery cage hens or in some cage-free and 'free range' setups with limited "access ...
Free-range farming of egg-laying hens is increasing its share of the market. DEFRA figures indicate that 45% of eggs produced in the UK throughout 2010 were free range, 5% were produced in barn systems and 50% from cages. This compares with 41% being free range in 2009. [14]
Egg producers carefully consider cultural issues, as well as commercial ones, when selecting the breed or breeds of chickens used for production, as egg color varies between breeds. [116] Among producers and breeders, brown eggs often are referred to as "tinted", while the speckled eggs preferred by some consumers often are referred to as being ...
On average, a chicken lays one egg a day for a number of days (a "clutch"), then does not lay for one or more days, then lays another clutch. Originally, the hen presumably laid one clutch, became broody, and incubated the eggs. Selective breeding over the centuries has produced hens that lay more eggs than they can hatch. Some of this progress ...
Global egg production was expected to reach 65.5 million tonnes in 2013, surpassing all previous years. [62] Between 2000 and 2010, egg production was growing globally at around 2% per year, but since then growth has slowed down to nearer 1%. [62] In 2018, egg production reached 76.7 million tonnes, a huge 24% growth since 2008. [63]
The great majority of laying birds used for egg production are chickens. Methods for keeping layers range from free-range systems, where the birds can roam as they will but are housed at night for their own protection, through semi-intensive systems where they are housed in barns and have perches, litter and some freedom of movement, to ...