Hatching eggs
(Image of eggs on metal shelving) It takes a female between 23 and
32 hours to produce a fertile egg. The eggs are automatically
collected daily, transported to the hatchery and stored at 55-65° F
and 70% humidity until they are set in the incubator. The eggs are
held here for about three to seven days prior to placing in an
incubator. One fertile hatching egg is worth $.28 and weighs around
60g.
Incubation
(Image of eggs incubating on metal shelving) The breeder company
owns a hatchery for layer chick production. Incubators hold
thousands of eggs in a very controlled environment. At day 18, the
eggs are transferred into hatching baskets. On the 21st day, the
chicks hatch.
Hatching
(Image of chicks) Once the chicks hatch, they are removed from the
hatchers and processed before being taken to pullet grow-out
farms. Processing of layer type chickens include sexing (separating
the males and females) and vaccination. They are then counted and
placed in baskets for delivery to the farm within 12-48 hours of
hatch. A pullet chick is worth about $.65 to $.75 and weighs between
35-40g. The picture to the right is of hatching baskets containing
brown egg laying sex-linked chicks prior processing. They are
referred to as sex-link because plumage color genes are linked to the
sex gene and the females are red and males are white at hatch. You
should be able to determine the sex of each of these chicks.
The international layer breeding companies usually sell these chicks
to layer farms that control the rest of the birds’ life. Some companies
specialize in raising pullets until they begin laying and then sell the
started pullets to the egg farm.
Pullet Rearing
(Image of chicks placed within a metal cage) The chicks are then
placed in a cage or floor-rearing house; depending on which
environment they will be raised as adults. The pullets are raised in
this facility for the first 18 weeks of life under environmentally
controlled conditions. Controlling the length of daylight is extremely
important for pullets. Pullets are never allowed more than 10 hours of
light daily, so they are not prematurely stimulated to lay eggs. During
the 18-week grow-out period, white egg pullets will eat 11.5 pounds
of feed each, will grow to 3.4 lbs., and be valued at $3.50. Brown egg
pullets will eat 13.2 pounds of feed each, will grow to 4.4 lbs., and be
valued at $3.75. Once the birds reach 18 weeks of age, they are sold
to a layer farm or transferred to the layer company’s layer facility.
Egg Production
(One image of a layer house and another image of four row of
chickens in cages) Once the pullets arrive at the layer house they are
fed a layer ration high in calcium (egg shells require a LOT of
calcium!) and given 14-16 hours of light daily to stimulate egg
production. Most producers like flocks to begin laying at around 20
weeks of age. A flock of hens will lay efficiently for 60-65
weeks. White egg birds will lay 260-285 eggs a year and eat 3
pounds of feed for every dozen eggs they produce. Brown egg layers
will lay 240-280 eggs a year and eat 3.5 pounds of feed for every
dozen eggs they lay. Once the hens lay for 60-65 weeks, they are
rested or molted. This will force all the hens to stop laying at the
same time and allow them rebuild calcium stores and restore body
condition. Hens are then brought back into production together for
another laying cycle. Depending on numerous economic factors,
hens are kept for one to three laying cycles before they are replaced
with a new flock. Hens lay for a shorter time and lay poorer quality
eggs in each subsequent cycle, but eggs are usually a bit larger as
hens age.
Egg Collection and Marketing
Eggs are automatically collected daily on belts and rollers into an egg
processing room connected to the hen houses. In the processing
room, machines wash, grade, and sort the eggs by size and package
the eggs for the whole egg market or to be shipped to a further
processing plant. Some modern egg breaking plants do not carton
the eggs but break them into liquid eggs for pasteurizing
inline. Consumer carton eggs are shipped to the store within four
days of collection.
Further Processed Products
(Image of a machine cracking an egg and separating the yolk from
the egg white) Further processing changes the product into
something more convenient or useful in another form. Liquid and
dried eggs are used in a wide array of consumer
products. Convenient pre-cooked egg products are also more
common at food stores and restaurants. This also adds more value to
the final product.