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Most chickens are raised for food, providing meat and eggs; others are kept as pets [1] or for cockfighting. Chickens are common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 26.5 billion as of 2023, and an annual production of more than 50 billion birds. A hen bred for laying can produce over 300 eggs per year.
[2] [3] Chickens raised for eggs are known as layers, while chickens raised for meat are called broilers. [4] In the United States, the national organization overseeing poultry production is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the UK, the national organisation is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
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 yolkless egg is most often a pullet's first egg, produced before her laying mechanism is fully ready. In a mature hen, a yolkless egg is unlikely, but can occur if a bit of reproductive tissue breaks away, stimulating the egg-producing glands to treat it as a yolk and wrap it in albumen, membranes and a shell as it travels through the egg tube.
Chickens can harbor dangerous bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli, so “washing your hands thoroughly or using an alcohol-based gel after all contact with poultry or eggs is the best way to ...
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 was ancient, but most occurred after 1900. In 1900, average egg production was 83 eggs per hen per year. In 2000, it was well over 300.
Because male chickens do not lay eggs and only those in breeding programmes are required to fertilise eggs, they are considered redundant to the egg-laying industry and are usually killed shortly after being sexed, which occurs just days after they are conceived or after they hatch. [3]
As male birds of the laying strain do not lay eggs and are not suitable for meat production, they generally are killed soon after they hatch. [121] Free-range eggs are considered by some advocates to be an acceptable substitute to factory-farmed eggs. Free-range laying hens are given outdoor access instead of being contained in crowded cages ...