Most people don’t have a good understanding of what they put on their plates. Especially when it comes to animal products. In the case of eggs, people think that chickens are capable of laying them daily, naturally and abundantly. Ignoring that there is actually an industry behind this so that some humans can earn an economic benefit through exploitation.
In order for a hen to lay many more eggs than normal, it is necessary to give them a special diet, generally with special foods that have a high hormonal load. Even the environmental conditions must be manipulated so that the circumstances are given so that production does not stop.
With chicken coops that must maintain a humidity of 60% to 80% and a very warm temperature, generally 18 °C (66,2 °F). If these requirements are not met, the hens will simply lay their eggs when they consider it necessary, without the need to force anything.
What is worrying is that for a bird to lay an egg, it requires an enormous amount of energy, in doing so they lose a large part of the calcium and nutrients from their body. This is similar to the process women go through at the time of their menstrual period.
For this reason, many times the consumption of eggs by the same birds that lay them is very common. Although there are various causes for this to happen, it usually happens when they accidentally break the egg and find its high nutritional content, which helps them recover very quickly after the expense they suffered.
It also happens when they have a high population and are crowded somewhere, they can get into the habit of breaking eggs to supply their food. Again, this can become common in places where they are cruelly exploited.
When rescued, the sanctuaries allow chickens to have access to their own eggs, as they wish. Many times they don’t even look at it, so the procedure is for humans to break the eggs so that they can have access to what belongs to them. In addition to having perfect food so that they can recover all the vitamins and energy they lost.
So, in no way can the exploitation of birds be acceptable, not even with the so-called “free” hens. Well, in many cases they end up using those who are not able to put more for the consumption of their meat. It is really impossible to meet such an excessive and unnecessary demand, if only hens in their natural conditions were used. For a large number of eggs to be produced, it is mandatory to submerge them in unnatural conditions and high stress.
When they are rescued, the hens continue to lay many eggs, since with their hormonal load due to the previously mentioned diet, their body is capable of doing so. However, over time their behavior changes and the amount they put down decreases drastically.
As there is a change in the nutritional mix, there is also a decrease in their hormonal load, therefore they will not continue in that production frenzy to which they were forced. Normally they end up laying 1 to 5 eggs a year, although in some sanctuaries sterilization or implants are used so that this does not happen again, thus eliminating the production of all the eggs. Even without these methods, hens will eventually stop laying eggs.
