So, make it easier on both you and your chickens and stick with breeds that.Hens are smart, quirky and inquisitive creatures. We carry the best egg laying chickens that are healthy and will last for many years to come.Laying hens require 4 grams of calcium from their chicken feed to lay eggs. We have the highest quality chickens that lay large to medium-sized eggs. Our egg laying chickens for sale are available in various breeds ranging from California Grey Chicks, Cream Legbar, White Leghorn Chicks, and many other types.

Now that you have figured out how chickens can lay pink eggs, itвЂ™s time to look into the different breeds that produce these kinds of eggs. BreedingSix Chicken Breeds That Lay Pink Eggs. A henвЂ™s natural lifespan can be up to 10 years, however in commercial egg production a hen will likely only live for 72 weeks.

Hens with white feathers lay white eggs, whereas hens with brown feathers lay brown eggs. Internationally other breeds of layer hens are used and these may have white feathers. These birds regardless of breed, are brown in colour with a red comb and have been genetically selected to lay as many eggs as possible over their relatively short life. Breeding farmsIn Australia the most common breeds of layer hens used in commercial egg production are the Hy-Line Brown, ISA Brown and Hi-Sex Brown.

Incubation normally takes around 21 days. They keep the eggs at the correct temperature, humidity, and ventilation until hatching. Once eggs are laid, they are then transferred to incubators at these hatcheries.These incubators may hold tens of thousands of eggs at a time. These breeding birds eventually produce offspring that will lay the eggs that are handled by commercial hatcheries. These eggs are laid by a white feathered breed of layer hen.To begin, fertilised eggs are imported into Australia under strict quarantine arrangements and are hatched as breeding birds (male and female lines).

The male chicks are considered a by-product of egg production and culled (killed). Before being transferred, day-old chicks may be vaccinated and have their beak trimmed. Female chicks are transferred to a вЂrearingвЂ™ facility, where they are grown to a certain age before being moved again to a laying facility.

The practice involves artificially forcing hens to moult through environmental and dietary manipulation to replicate the natural process of moulting that occurs seasonally in wild birds. Induced moultingInduced moulting is routinely done on some farms at the end of a henвЂ™s first laying cycle to improve the productivity and quality of eggs in the following laying cycle. Altering light affects activity levels, sleep levels, and behaviour of chickens. Laying eggsOnce they have reached appropriate body weight, hens are exposed to increasing lengths of light in the sheds (typically 16 hours) in order to stimulate egg production. Nest training can involve the use of hot-wires (electrified wires) to train and deter pullets/hens from laying eggs on the floor of the shed instead of in their nests.

All barns have nest boxes where hens can lay their eggs, but not all barns have perches or litter which are key to catering to hensвЂ™ behavioural needs. Flock size varies between thousands and tens of thousands of birds in each shed.Hens in barn systems can carry out more natural behaviours such as stretching and flapping their wings. Barn systemIn a barn system (also known as cage-free systems), hens arenвЂ™t kept in cages but instead can move on the floor in large sheds, or up and down the shed via different levels (aviary or multi-tier systems). However, there is still limited environmental complexity and not enough space to allow for some natural behaviours like dust bathing, foraging and scratching the ground.

Free-range systemIn a free-range system, hens should have access to an outdoor area with shade and protection during the day. Sheds are normally equipped with an automated feeding and watering system, and eggs are collected mechanically. The expression of normal behaviours also depends on appropriate stocking densities inside the shed.

In animal production, organic farming may aim to provide a natural environment for animals and usually includes access to the outdoors (free range), but the exact standards of this can vary greatly. Does free range and organic mean higher welfare?Organic farming has a focus on avoiding the use of synthetic chemicals, including synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers, hormones and antibiotics. Some free-range systems provide perches for hens to roost when they are inside at night.

To read more about how chickens are slaughtered and the associated welfare issues, click here.Unlike meat chickens, the meat from spent hens is less desirable for human consumption due to a difference in taste and texture, so is used for manure and fertiliser, pet food, or lower-quality processing meat for human consumption such as in soups and stocks. SlaughterAfter вЂspentвЂ™ hens are removed from the production facility, they are either culled and buried on-site, or transported to a processing (slaughter) facility.At the processing plant, hens are slaughtered the same way as meat chickens. Hens considered вЂspentвЂ™ and then removed from production which is a process known as depopulation. From here, egg production gradually declines and hens are considered вЂspentвЂ™ because they are no longer profitable. Processing DepopulationHens will lay about 300 eggs each year and will produce eggs up until around a year and a half of age.

Layer Chickens Breeds