Economic efficiency of small group housing and aviaries for laying hens in Germany

After the ban on cages for laying hens, questions regarding the economic efficiency of keeping laying hens in welfare-friendly alternatives have been raised. Limited information is available on the small group system, which is new and still under debate in Germany. Therefore an analysis is necessary to evaluate costs, returns and their determinants in small group systems compared with aviaries for laying hens. The calculation of costs and returns is based on a concept proposed by the German Agricultural Society. The empirical basis is a survey of 64 flocks in northern, central and southern Germany presented by a convenient sample. In both systems the production costs per egg decrease from 13 cents to 6 cents with increasing flock size due to improved performance (laying performance, mortality rate). In small group systems the decline of the returns per egg with increasing flock size is less pronounced than the drop of the costs, so the margin of returns and costs increases. It becomes obvious that farms with larger flocks have economic advantages over farms with small flocks. In contrast to small group systems, the margin of costs and returns in aviaries declines with increasing flock size. This implies that an increase of size has more positive impacts on farms with small group systems than on farms with aviary systems. The results reflect that a good technical equipment (e.g. for climate and feeding control) and the careful observation of the animals with a “trained eye“ play an important role for the welfare of laying hens and a successful egg production.