At the end of their productive laying cycle, hens face slaughter at 18 months of age, with welfare implications from the culling process and the disposal of male chicks at hatch.
The end-of-lay period encompasses two major welfare concerns. Male chick killing at hatch involves the deaths of billions of chicks annually, typically by maceration or gassing. Though death may be rapid, the scale is enormous. In-ovo sexing technology that determines sex before incubation is being adopted but is not yet universal. End-of-lay slaughter of spent hens often uses lower-welfare methods than prime broiler slaughter due to the low commercial value of the birds and the challenges of handling millions of older, smaller birds. The welfare costs at the end of the laying cycle are an often-overlooked dimension of egg production that applies to all housing systems.