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A common practice among hatcheries for egg-laying hens is the culling of newly hatched male chicks since they do not lay eggs and do not grow fast enough to be profitable for meat. There are plans to more ethically destroy the eggs before the chicks are hatched, using "in-ovo" sex determination. [52]
Kuroilers, a dual-purpose breed producing meat and eggs, can live on a diet of kitchen and agricultural waste, and produce around 150 eggs per year whereas native Indian hens lay only 40 per year. The meat yield per bird of Kuroilers is also greater; males weigh approximately 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) and females about 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) whereas the native ...
All chickens lay eggs, have edible meat, and possess a unique appearance. However, distinct breeds are the result of selective breeding to emphasize certain traits. Any breed may be used for general agricultural purposes, and all breeds are shown to some degree. But each chicken breed is known for a primary use.
An egg incubator. Because hens stop laying when they become broody, commercial poultry breeders perceive broodiness as an impediment to egg and poultry meat production. [8] With domestication, it has become more profitable to incubate eggs artificially, while keeping hens in full egg production.
Red shaver hens can lay from 305 to 315 eggs a year, [3] and are reported to be prolific producers of large brown eggs. One four-year-old Red Shaver chicken in Ottawa was credited with laying an egg with a mass of 143 grams, which is almost three times the size of a standard medium egg (Typically a medium egg is 49 g, a jumbo egg is 70 g).
Chickens farmed primarily for eggs are called layer hens. The UK alone consumes more than 34 million eggs per day. [84] Hens of some breeds can produce over 300 eggs per year; the highest authenticated rate of egg laying is 371 eggs in 364 days. [85] After 12 months of laying, the commercial hen's egg-laying ability declines to the point where ...
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 ...
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.