New Zealand has about 1.6 million commercial hens. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Friday is World Egg Day - and New Zealand has about 1.6 million commercial hens with some now laying larger eggs.
Supermarkets are working towards only stocking eggs that have come from cage free chickens following ongoing hen welfare concerns.
Woolworths said by the end of the year all its cartons of eggs would be cage-free, and Foodstuffs, which owns New World and PaknSave, said it would do the same by 2027.
The founder of eg. Free-Range Eggs, Nathan Williams, said he wanted everyone to be able to afford ethical eggs and as more egg farms transition to free range - eggs would become cheaper.
He currently had 90,000 free range Shaver hens on his farm near Bulls and they laid more than 80,000 eggs a day. He was expanding his colony and said by Christmas the number of hens he farms would be more than 100,000.
"When a chicken first comes into lay around 16 to 20 weeks they lay smaller eggs - popping out what we call piwis which is a size five, and then as they grow their eggs get bigger, the eggs will be sixes and sevens. And then size eight and nine are our jumbo sizes."
Williams said when the birds went outside and ate bugs and grass, he had more jumbo-sized eggs, which were often double-yolkers.
That meant shoppers may start noticing more Jumbo eggs, and Williams said about fifteen percent of his eggs were potentially-double yolkers.
Williams said contrary to public opinion - chickens had their own personalities and knew where they liked to eat, lay their eggs and sleep.
He said he had been pecked and chased by several of his inquisitive birds from time to time.
The Egg Producers Federation said the welfare of hens was paramount - as the happier the hen, the better the egg.
Its chairman John McKay said eggs were as popular as they had ever been. Over the last year, New Zealanders had eaten on average 229 eggs each, and that was up from last year when people consumed about 216 eggs.
"We are really pleased with that trajectory and as we all know eggs are a highly versatile and nutritious product."
McKay said bird flu was something the poultry industry took very seriously and the one outbreak of a highly pathogenic avian influenza was well managed late last year.
About 160,000 chickens were culled on a free range egg farm in North Otago after becoming infected with the H7N6 strain they contracted from wild waterfowl.
"That farm is now back in production and eggs are being produced off it. The most important thing is making sure there is strong biosecurity on farms across the country and keeping the egg and poultry supply as resiliant as we can."
He said there were no safety concerns about eating eggs.
McKay said he would be having a couple of poached eggs on toast for breakfast on Friday morning to celebrate World Egg Day.
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