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Also Henner Schönecke, who keeps laying hens himself and is the poultry farmer of the year CERES AWARD 2014, his farm is switching to white-laying hens in the free-range stables this year – that’s what you can read on the poultry farm’s homepage.
Accordingly, the White Layers are a very elegant breed with several advantages:
- They would have greater genetic potential.
- They are slightly smaller than the hens that lay brown eggs and are therefore more agile. They can live this out because, considering the same number of animals, they have more space in the stable.
- They are easier to hold and more mobile.
- According to Schönecke, they also consume less feed, which saves resources and costs.
- The eggs are a little smaller, but this is less strenuous for the hens to lay.
- Overall, they would live longer and lay eggs. White layers would lay around 500 eggs in 100 weeks of life. Braunleger in 82 weeks 380.
All of this makes her a more sustainable hen compared to brown layers. According to Henner Schönecke, brown eggs will only be found in a few regional poultry farmers in the future.