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The layer industry is worth about $286 million to the New Zealand economy with 85% of eggs sold as table eggs with the remainder used in the baking and catering industries. About $22.6 million of the total revenue is through export sales mostly to the Pacific Islands and Oceania regions.
The commercial layer industry is highly vertically integrated. New Zealand imports eggs from Great Grandparent flocks overseas which go through a quarantine period. Bromley Park Hatcheries (now owned by Inghams) and Golden Coast Commercial Hatcheries (owned by Tegel) maintain Grandparent flocks and Parent flocks which produce day-old chicks.
Most layer chicks either go to specialist pullet rearers that raise them for 16 to 18 weeks and sell them on to layer farms as point-of-lay pullets when they are about ready to start laying or they are raised directly on the layer farm where they will be raised until they are ready to start laying. Hatcheries also sell small numbers of day-old chicks into the backyard world either through distributors or directly to backyard poultry keepers.
There are approximately 170 layer farms across New Zealand that keep about 4 million birds and produce over 1 billion eggs every year. About 80% of eggs in New Zealand are produced about 20 large commercial farms with the remaining farms in the industry managed by independent owner-operators. Most of the information about the health and performance of layer farms is held at the individual farm level.
Most laying hens are kept through one production cycle until they are about 18 months of age. This is when they typically stop egg production to go through an 8 to 12 week long moult and it’s not economical for producers to keep them during this time period, especially since most laying hens are only 80% as productive in their second laying cycle and will continue to decrease in productivity every year after that.
When hens are retired, about 30% are processed for meat to go into the human food chain or pet products, 60% are euthanised, and 10% are sold into the backyard poultry world as end-of-lay hens either through distributors or directly to backyard poultry keepers. The main reason for euthanising birds rather than processing them for meat is because they usually have eggs inside them which create too much mess at processing plants.
Virtually all commercial layer farms are registered with the Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand (EPF), which is an industry association that acts to represent the interests of its members.
In 2018, the Animal Welfare (Layer Hens) Code of Welfare 2012 was updated with new requirements to improve the welfare of laying hens. This included completely phasing out conventional cage systems by 2022 as well as introducing more detailed standards around providing laying hens with appropriate nesting spaces, perches, feed, and water in the other farming systems. Click here to view the final report.
As of December 2022, 34% of farms were free-range, 33% used colony housing, and 33% used barn housing. About 2% of layer farms meet the requirements for producing organic eggs. The Animal Welfare (Layer Hens) Code of Welfare 2018 is scheduled for another review within the next year.
Colony housing is when birds are raised indoors in enclosures that can hold a maximum of 60 hens. This allows much more space and environment enrichment than conventional cages that house only 3 to 7 birds.
Chickens raised in barn housing have the freedom to move around the entire indoor space and there are usually dedicated areas for allowing them to perch, scratch, and nest.
Free-range housing is when layers have access to a barn environment at all times as well as the ability to access outdoor areas during daylight hours through specialised doors called pop holes in the side of the barn. Free-range birds are also at higher risk of getting parasites and infectious diseases from contact with wild birds when they are outside. Free-range farms can qualify as being organic if they avoid the use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, antibiotics, and growth promoters.
In July 2019, the Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand (EPF) launched Trace My Egg as a traceability programme that allows consumers to find out more information about the farm where their eggs were produced using the 5-digit code stamped on the shell. It is voluntary for farmers to participate in the programme and as of January 2024, about 20% of layer farms producing 60% to total eggs in the country were enrolled in the programme.
The letters at the beginning of the code indicate whether the eggs were from hens raised in free-range (FR), barn (BN), colony (CL), or organic (OR) production systems.