Strong Management Can Support Longer Layer Production

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

By Emily McKinlay

Improving efficiency is a shared goal across the egg sector as producers look to cut costs and shrink their environmental footprint. One emerging opportunity is to keep laying hens productive for longer, says Martine Bourgeois, technology transfer manager of poultry technology application at Trouw Nutrition.

Traditionally, Canadian egg producers have planned their farm operations around a scheduled 52 weeks of lay, or 71 weeks of life, for their hens. Some countries, and even some provinces in Canada, have experimented with extending that life cycle for specific flocks to 80, 85 or even up to 100 weeks of age.

Benefits & barriers

Increasing layer longevity offers financial and sustainability incentives to egg farmers, but it also presents new considerations for flock management and industry structure.

“If you extend the productive life of layers, there are more eggs produced by each bird, which improves efficiency,” says Bourgeois. “A higher total egg output boosts profitability and spreads out the cost of raising the pullets over more eggs.”

She notes that this can also help meet some of the sustainability goals in the egg industry. “If you keep hens longer, you require fewer replacement chicks, which saves resources and lowers the carbon footprint of the eggs produced,” says Bourgeois. “Longevity in layer hens can make egg production more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.”

While there are clear benefits to extending a hen’s productivity, it also introduces an additional stage of life that requires careful management. This presents new challenges for animal health and egg quality.

“There is a biological trade-off. As birds get older, they lay larger eggs, and shell quality can decline, as shells can be thinner and have more cracks if the hens are not managed properly,” says Bourgeois. “The internal egg quality can decrease with age as well, which you can manage through good nutrition, flock observation and management. Longer lay cycles also put more pressure on the hen’s body and their calcium reserves, but that can also be addressed through good management and nutrition.”

Bourgeois emphasizes that to have success with longer lay cycles, producers must first have strong management in the standard 52-week lay cycle. She adds, “Make sure the birds have good health in the barns before bringing them to a longer cycle. You need careful management in all flocks, but especially when you have a long lay cycle.”

Beyond additional hen health management, the current egg industry structure is built around the 52-week lay period. “That is the way we have done things for years. It is more of a tradition. Farms still plan their chick placement and farm schedule on the birds living to 71 weeks of age.”

Many of these barriers are being addressed as genetics and nutrition companies begin to fill the knowledge gaps in the management of hens and their egg production past 52 weeks of lay, and how that fits into the egg market. “Now genetics companies are selecting for longer cycles, and they can tell us how to manage those birds and how to feed them,” says Bourgeois. “Barriers are less severe now than they used to be with new research and economic incentives to extend that cycle.”

Globally, some flocks have been retained for up to 100 weeks of life, creating the framework for management that can be followed by egg producers in Canada. Some flocks in British Columbia have even experimented with longevity between 85 and 100 weeks of age to make up for production losses due to highly pathogenic avian influenza.

“We have good examples that demonstrate it is really feasible.”

Management changes

To take advantage of the benefits of increasing the productive lifetime of laying hens, the egg industry and farmers should be prepared to strengthen their flock management. Increasing layer hen longevity requires attention to management at multiple production stages, including the extended production phase after lay would have traditionally ceased.

“You really have to manage the young pullets. During the first five weeks of life for a young bird, they need to have a good body weight across the flock, with an appropriate uniformity and coefficient of variation,” says Bourgeois. “Weeks zero to five are critical because they can have an impact on the number of eggs a layer produces in lay. During pre-pullet placement, they are developing their digestive system, which determines nutrient utilization, and they are developing their body frame and skeleton.”

Once the pullets are a little older, between five and 19 weeks of age, management and nutrition need to continue to prioritize development, with an emphasis on strong bones.

When the lay period begins, the nutritional and performance demands increase rapidly while the birds’ ability to take in feed to meet that requirement is limited. Proper management can maintain nutrient reserves and the condition of the hens, determining their ability to support an extended lay period.

“They really enter into peak production fast and don’t eat a lot of feed. You need to make sure they get extra nutrition and care during that age,” says Bourgeois. “The point of lay has a rapid onset, and the hens have low feed intake, so you need to have extra nutrition and care, good gut health and avoid stressors.”

At 40 weeks of age, producers should be preparing their birds for an extended lay cycle. “You want to think about maintaining shell quality. Don’t wait too long to do this. At this stage, you have to manage egg size and liver function.”

Beyond 60 weeks of age, producers need to be mindful of eggshell quality and egg size to avoid cracks and quality losses, while also managing liver function. Bourgeois says that everyday good management is critical at this stage. “They need to be in good conditions in the barn, including good water, the right temperature and humidity, and even lighting. Everything needs to be optimum.”

Trouw has nutrition solutions — like phytotechnologies and trace minerals — that can be used to support egg quality, gut health, immunity and bone integrity at all stages of the layer hen’s lifetime. Management of the diet and barn conditions can be used to address concerns of nutrient intake, egg size and quality, and bone structure.

“When the hens start in lay and have low intake, we can increase the density of the feed and make sure their gut health is in good condition, so when they eat, they will consume all the required nutrients they need,” says Bourgeois. “Later in the cycle, egg weight can be controlled by managing the feed intake amount or by balancing the protein or amino acids in the diet. But to control egg weight, we need to do something before they are too big. Once they get too big, it is difficult to manage. That’s why we aim for this management at 40 weeks of age. We target a 62-gram maximum weight at that age and try to maintain that weight until the end of lay.”

The management necessary to enable extended production cycles is becoming increasingly feasible, driven by more research and training, a genetic focus on appropriate traits, and new nutrition technologies. Strong management in all aspects of a traditional production cycle is necessary to transition to longer lay cycles.

“Everyone needs to work together to make sure we have success.”

Can it work?

While most egg boards across Canada currently maintain the standard of a 52-week production cycle, Bourgeois sees the potential of increasing layer hen longevity. “Egg Farmers of Canada have a sustainability objective. One way of reducing the environmental footprint per egg is with a longer production cycle.

“Genetics companies and researchers both in North America and globally have been developing hens that can lay past 90 weeks of age with success, not only in Canada but also across the world.”

While improvements to genetics and management make increased longevity a feasible goal for the industry, there are other sector factors that may limit implementation. Some egg boards are hesitant to increase production length, citing concerns for egg size and eggshell quality. Longer cycles also need to work within the demand and schedule of the market.

“It’s not just something where the producer can place birds and just extend the flock’s longevity,” says Bourgeois. “They need to make sure graders will buy the eggs and that they have pullet placement, which is not so easy. It needs to fit a schedule to bring flocks to 85 weeks of age.”

To have success in extending the productive lifetime of layer hens, both industry and producers need to work together to continue to strengthen management and sustainability.

“It’s amazing what genetics, management, and good conditions in a barn can do. We can make good flocks with that with longer cycle.

“It may not be this year, but we can get there. It has been done in other countries, and we can use that information to learn what to do and what not to do.” BF