For Your Information
The egg industry is a business.
Egg laying hens are a different
type of bird than those used for
chicken meat. Farmers raise the
birds to lay eggs, not meat.
There are over 284 million active laying hens in the U.S.
producing about 76.4 billion eggs each year. One laying hen will
produce approximately 270 eggs each year.
Laying hens can be cared for in many different ways. They
can be in small or large groups, with or without cages, with and
without access to outdoors, and so on. Each system has its
advantages and disadvantages.
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Today’s Activity
• You will answer a series of survey questions.
• Through these answers, you may voluntarily
purchase one of the five egg products at the front
of the room.
• If a voluntary purchase is made, you may pay
with cash, check, or any credit card.
• Please answer all questions reflecting your true
preferences, and how you would make purchasing
decisions on a typical grocery store trip.
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To help you answer the
survey questions, we will
briefly describe the egg
production process and how
the five egg products differ.
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For Your Information
Space Per Hen
Whether caged or
not, hens are
more content with
greater space.
Greater space can
be provided by….
1) making
cages larger
2) providing
more perches
& walkways
3) increasing
floor space
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For Your Information
Floor Space Per Hen
In addition to
increasing hen’s
space by adding
perches and
walkways…
one can increase the
amount of space on
the barn floor for
each hen.
Note: for systems using cages, “space per hen” is relevant but “floor space” is not.
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For Your Information
Beak Trimming
Hens sometimes
peck at one another,
causing injury and
sometimes death. To
reduce injuries from
pecking, farmers
sometimes trim the
beak of birds.
Beak trimming does cause
pain. If the trimming occurs
when the hen is younger than
10 days of age, the pain is only
temporary. When trimmed at
older than 10 days, chronic
pain results.
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For Your Information
Scratching, Foraging, &
Dustbathing
Hens naturally like to
scratch at dirt or bedding
material, search for food on
the ground, and dust off their
body with dust and sand.
Opportunities for these
activities can be provided
outside or inside a barn.
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For Your Information
Nest Availability
Hens prefer to lay their eggs in individual nests, and prefer
that nest to contain bedding material.
Some farm systems do not provide
nests, and the egg simply falls on
the cage floor and rolls out the
front of the cage to be collected by
conveyor belt.
Other farms provide nest boxes for
the hens to lay eggs. Eggs will roll
out the nest box and onto a
conveyor belt to be collected.
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For Your Information
Free-Range: Access to Outdoors
Hens will go outdoors to
exercise and explore in good
weather. Access to outdoors is
made more attractive to the
hens by providing shelter and
protection from predators.
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For Your Information
Protection From Other
Birds
When hens are placed
in large groups, they
cannot establish a
“pecking order” and
will injure one another.
Sometimes, bouts of
injurious pecking and
cannibalism can break
out.
Placing hens
in small
groups of six
or less reduces
hen aggression
Providing perches
for hens to flee
bully hens also
reduces aggression
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For Your Information
Type of Feed
Laying hens eat mostly
corn. The corn can be nonorganic or organic corn.
Some hens can be given
feed high in flaxseed to
increase omega-3 fatty acid
levels.
Feed given to laying hens
are never supplemented
with antibiotics or growth
hormones.
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