The document provides information on the chicken industry and egg production. It discusses:
1) The domestication of chickens beginning around 3200 BC initially for cockfighting, and the modern egg industry's consolidation into a few large producers.
2) The breeding and genetics of egg-laying chickens, including the dominance of the White Leghorn breed.
3) The stages of commercial egg production from breeding to hatcheries, pullet rearing, layer housing, and egg collection and distribution.
4) Issues facing the industry like animal welfare concerns regarding cage housing and alternatives like cage-free and pasture systems.
5. COCKFIGHTING
It is legal to raise fighting
birds in all states, but as
of 2008 illegal to fight in
all of them.
The last three states to
allow cockfighting were:
Louisiana, Oklahoma,
and New Mexico
Trio of fighting chickens
Old English Game Chickens
7. Weight = 2 lb
Eggs/yr = 10-12
JUNGLE FOWL
MEAT PRODUCTION PUREBRED
EGG PRODUCTION
8. EGG INDUSTRY
Egyptian and Chinese records show that
fowl were laying eggs for man in 1400 B.C.
9.
10.
11.
12. Ranking of States for eggs in
2008
Billion of eggs
4.Iowa 14.4
5.Ohio 7.1
6.Pennsylvania 6.5
7.Indiana 6.5
8.California 5.2
11. Minnesota 2.8
13. TABLE EGG INDUSTRY
• Industry is consolidating into a few
players:
– 1987 there were 2500 Commercial egg
producers
– In 2003, 260 companies represented 95% of
all the layers in the U.S.
• 65 companies with 1 million plus layers
– 9 companies with >5 million layers
20. BREEDERS
• The commercial egg industry in the U.S. is
dominated by the Single Comb White Leghorn
– High rate of lay
– Early maturity
– Good feed efficiency
– Relatively small body size
– Adaptability to diverse climates
– Lay white-shelled eggs
• The most widely demanded shell color among
consumers
21. Single Comb White Leghorn
SCWL
Single Comb
White ear lobes
Yellow skin and shanks
22. BREEDERS
• In some areas of the U.S. (e.g., New
England) brown eggs are more popular
– Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, and
Plymouth Rock based lines
23. BREEDERS
• Following WWII some breeders turned to
methods similar to those used so successfully in
producing hybrid seed corn
– Selected inbred lines of chickens, developed by
generations of mating closely related birds, were
crossed
– The very uniform progeny were called ‘inbred
hybrids’
– System still used today
24. SEX DETERMINATION
• Sex-linked characteristics associated with
feather growth
– Slow feathering (K) is dominant to rapid
feather (k) and is sex-linked
• Example of an undesirable dominant
characteristics that has been used to advantage by
the breeder
25. SEX DETERMINATION
• Rapid feathering – • Slow feathering –
Primary and secondary Primaries and coverts are
wing feathers are longer about the same length
than the coverts
26. Parents
(Genotype) (ZkZk) (ZKW)
Phenotype - feathering Rapid Slow
Sex Male Female
Zk Zk
ZK ZKZk ZKZk Slow feathering males
W ZkW ZkW Rapid feathering females
38. HATCHERY
• Incubation period is 21 days
• 100 degrees F is forced air, 102 degrees F if
a still-air incubator is used
• Humidity at 58-60%. Raise to 65% as eggs
start to hatch
• Turn eggs ½ turn 4-6 times per day. Do not
turn within 3 days of hatching
• Do not help chicks out of shells
42. • Chicks are placed on 3-4” of litter.
• Hoovers guards keep chicks close to
heat source so that they do not get
chilled.
43. • Light is controlled from 12 to 20 weeks of
age – preferred: decreasing day length
• At 20 weeks of age pullets moved to laying
house with increasing day length to
promote laying eggs.
49. Typical production curve
Lighting is increased at 20 weeks of age to 12 hours and
then increased 15-20 minutes per week to a maximum of
17 hours to promote egg production.
50. U.S. EGG INDUSTRY
BREEDERS
Hatching eggs
HATCHERY
Pullet chicks
REPLACEMENT PULLETS
Laying hens
LAYING FLOCKS
Eggs
WHOLESALERS / RETAILERS
63. Cleanliness
Grade A: Clean Grade B: Moderate Grade B: Moderate
localized stain scattered stain but
covering less than covering less than
1/32 of the shell 1/16 of the shell
64. Cleanliness
1/4 1/4
1/16 1/16
1/8 1/8
1/32
1/32
Grade A: Clean Grade B: Moderate Grade B: Moderate
localized stain scattered stain but
covering less than covering less than
1/32 of the shell 1/16 of the shell
65. Cleanliness
Dirty: Scattered Dirty: Localized Dirty: Prominent
moderate stains moderate stain stain
covering more than covering more than
1/16 of the shell 1/32 of the shell
80. EGG PRODUCTS
• Commercial egg drying began in St. Louis,
MO about 1880
• The first commercial production of frozen
whole eggs began in 1903
• Separated eggs were available in 1912
• The first commercial egg breaking
machines were available in 1951
82. EGG PRODUCTS
• Processing of egg products includes breaking
eggs, filtering, mixing, stabilizing, blending,
pasteurizing, cooling, freezing, or drying and
packaging
• Egg products include whole eggs, whites, yolks
and various blends with and without non-egg
ingredients that are processed and pasteurized
and may be available in liquid, frozen and dried
forms
83. LIQUID EGG INDUSTRY
• Beside dinner and restaurant tables, eggs
are finding their way into 50+ processed
products as ingredients.
• In 2003, 206.9 million cases:
– 60.9 million cases were further processed
– 125.8 million cases (60.87%) for retail
– 18.6 million cases (9.4%) for foodservice use
– 1.6 million cases (0.8%) were exported
85. ISSUES AFFECTING EGG INDUSTRY
• Cholesterol
– Technology for measuring cholesterol content
in egg improved
• Cholesterol not as high as first believed
– Understanding of cholesterol and heart
disease improved
• It is the HDL and LDL that are important NOT
cholesterol
86. ISSUES AFFECTING EGG INDUSTRY
• Animal rights/animal welfare
– Activists groups started attacking food outlets
87.
88.
89.
90. REAL WELFARE CONCERNS
• Hatchery
– Chick processing: sexing, vaccinations -
handled gently?
– Disposal of males - humane?
– Transport to farms
- time, temperature,
RH, ventilation, space,
handled gently?
91. REAL WELFARE CONCERNS
• Brooding and rearing
– Delivery and placing in cages - handled gently?
– Beak trimming - necessary?
– Space allotment - too crowded?
– Cages - too barren?
– Catching for transport - handled gently?
– Transportation to layer houses - time, temperature,
RH, ventilation, space, handled gently?
92. REAL WELFARE CONCERNS
• Layer houses
– Delivery and placing in cages - handled gently?
– Space allotment - too crowded?
– Forced molting - starvation?
– Cages - too barren?
– No nests - behavioral deprivation?
– Catching for slaughter - broken bones?
– Transportation for slaughter - time, temperature, RH,
ventilation, space, handled gently?
– Slaughter - humane?
99. ISSUES AFFECTING EGG INDUSTRY
• Environmental pollution
• Manure is typically spread on land as a
fertilizer
• High in P which can lead to pollution
of surface waters
In a pasture poultry production system the pens are moved daily. The pasture is then usually left for another year. Generally cages are 10 feet by 10 feet in size. An eight-week production cycle requires 3500 square feet. That equates to approximately 10 percent of an acre for each pen
In a pasture poultry production system the pens are moved daily. The pasture is then usually left for another year. Generally cages are 10 feet by 10 feet in size. An eight-week production cycle requires 3500 square feet. That equates to approximately 10 percent of an acre for each pen