"Over the last twelve months, the cost of producing eggs has reached all-time record high levels across the globe due to high grain costs, new housing systems in Europe and regulations or legislation in many countries," said Peter van Horne, economist, Wageningen University and the International Egg Commission (IEC). Data presented by van Horne at the IEC conference in Cape Town, South Africa, was derived from Wageningen University research, company information collected by Iowa State's Egg Industry Center and data collected by the IEC.
The farm level production cost of producing eggs in the EU in conventional cages increased by 27 percent from 2010 to 2012. Essentially all of the cost increase was due to the sharp rise in grain prices, and this affected egg producers all around the world, not just in Europe.
Enriched housing costs
In prior work for the IEC, first reported in the spring of 2012, van Horne estimated that eggs produced in enriched cages in the EU at the EU standard density (116 square inches per hen) had 11.5 percent greater total production costs than for eggs produced in conventional cages at 450 square centimeters (69.3 square inches per hen). The UEP Certified cage density for conventional cages is currently at 67 square inches per hen. He also reported that for hens housed in conventional cages in the EU at 550 square centimeters (85.25 square inches) per bird, the production costs are approximately 7 percent less than for eggs produced in enriched cages.
Experience is, the EU demonstrates, that hens in enriched cages have good egg production, no extra feed intake and equal or lower mortality than do hens in conventional cages, van Horne reported. He said that the cost increase of using enriched cages versus conventional cages stems almost entirely from the 45 percent greater housing and equipment cost per bird at the European cage densities. The higher housing and equipment cost is primarily due to the increased space given for birds in enriched cages.
Maro Ibarburu-Blanc, analyst, Egg Industry Center, Iowa State University, provided van Horne with an estimate of the cost increase that could be expected in the U.S. for eggs produced in enriched cages versus conventional cages. So far, the flocks housed in enriched cages have exhibited good performance in terms of egg production, feed conversion and mortality. Using U.S. prices for pullets and feed from the spring of 2013, Ibarburu-Blanc estimated that enriched cages had a production cost that is 8 to 9 percent higher than for conventional cages with manure belt systems.
Barn systems
Cage-free barn or aviary system housed hens were estimated by van Horne to produce eggs at a cost that was 22 percent higher than for eggs produced in conventional cages at 550 (85.25 square inches) centimeters per hen. Using 450 centimeters (69.3 square inches) per hen, which is close to the UEP Certified density as the baseline, the cost increases by 27.1 percent in aviaries over conventional cages.
The barn or aviary systems have higher costs because of higher pullet costs and feed costs, and van Horne pointed out that as feed costs increase the difference between aviary-produced egg costs and cage-produced egg costs increases.
Wider enriched cages
Van Horne said that there are wider enriched cages, up to 2.2 meters (86.6 inches) wide, being tested in Europe. In addition to being wider, the feeder and lights are located inside the cage. The idea behind a wider cage is to utilize more of the interior space in the barn for bird housing and less for walkways between the rows of cages.
With the wider enriched cage, van Horne estimated that the production cost increase versus a 550 square centimeter (85.25 square inch) per bird conventional cage might be reduced to 5 -5.5 percent versus the 7 percent with the more typically sized version of enriched cages. He said that these new, wider enriched cages are in place on just a few farms. These cages allow producers to house more birds per cubic foot of poultry house space, which lowers the capital cost per hen. The possible management risks with this type of system, cited by van Horne, stem from potential problems getting birds out of the cages and potential egg quality issues. He also raised questions as to whether or not having the light in the cage might cause problems and also potential temperature control issues due to the wider cages.
