For most Canadians, it has been several generations since their families lived on a farm. In 1901, only one in three lived in the city. The rest either lived in small towns or on family farms. Today, 77 percent of Canadians live in cities. Just 3.2 percent are members of farm families.

So, except for a drive in the country, a stop to pick fruit or vegetables or a visit to a rural fair, Canadians don't have much contact with agriculture. Yet, one farm is relied upon to produce food for more than 100 Canadians.

Every day you are bombarded with news and views about food. Advertisements, health experts and reporters tell you about calories, fat, food safety and balancing your diet.

Occasionally, even the way food is produced makes the news. The media will focus on a food processor, a new product or technology. Every once in a while there will be a story about crop failures, animal husbandry or the environmental challenges that agriculture faces.

So, it's natural that Canadians have lots of questions about the food they eat.

Canada's egg producers are proud that we provide fresh, high quality eggs to Canadians every day. We are also proud that we do this by carefully balancing our business needs, the wholesomeness of our product and the welfare of our birds. Canadians have questions. We have a story to tell. That's why we have prepared this booklet to describe how eggs are produced in Canada.

Eggs -- we call them a natural source of goodness. Why?

Usually, it's because of the fact that eggs contain so many nutrients. But, as producers, we believe it's also because eggs are wholesome, delicious, easy to use, versatile and such good value. They are an excellent source of the high quality protein needed for human growth and development.

Eggs contain all nine essential amino acids, making them one of the few foods with complete proteins. In fact, the pattern of amino acids found in eggs is so perfect for our bodies that scientists use eggs as the standard to measure the protein quality of other foods.

In addition to protein, eggs contain a significant number of the vitamins and minerals we need. From just one large egg, you can get 25 percent of your daily requirement of vitamin B12, 13 percent of your vitamin D and 9.5 percent of your vitamin A.

Then there are the minerals -- iodine, phosphorous, magnesium, iron and zinc. Eggs do all this, yet each large egg has only 75 calories and a small quantity of fat (five grams), only 1.5 grams of which are saturated.

The fat in eggs is useful too. It provides a compact source of energy, assists the human body to absorb fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), makes important hormones and helps produce the acids our digestive system needs to do its work.

Eggs are nutritious. That's why Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating suggests one to two eggs as a serving from the Meat and Alternatives group. Eggs are also versatile and easy to use whether it's in your kitchen, a restaurant or in the products of one of Canada's food manufacturers. Eggs readily adapt themselves to any lifestyle and are a traditional food choice for many cultural groups. The goodness just naturally makes itself apparent.

In Canada, we produce eggs for eating and eggs for hatching. The difference is that hatching eggs are fertilized and will produce a chick. But about 5.2 billion eggs a year are unfertilized and come to the Canadian marketplace for consumption as an egg.

Most of the chicks from hatching eggs go onto farms where they are raised as either broilers or roasters destined for consumption as meat by Canadians in their homes or in restaurants. Between 17 and 18 million are reared as hens for the Canadian egg industry.

The most popular breed of chicken for egg production in Canada is the White Leghorn. It's a small, light bird that lays far more eggs than its ancestors. Its eggs are white. Canadian farmers also raise Rhode Island Reds and other breeds which lay brown eggs.

Canadians prefer white eggs although some like those with brown shells. Still, white or brown, there is no difference in nutritional value or cooking performance. In this case, an egg is an egg.

The benefits that we derive from eggs, however, go beyond food. Eggs are also used to make highly specialized products for use in medicine and science.

Flu and measles vaccines, for example, originate with eggs. Hospitals use eggs in diagnostic tests to identify some viruses and diseases. Pharmaceutical products, extracted from egg whites, are used as tools to deliver drugs to tumours. Still others are included in over-the-counter health products like eye drops, toothpaste and throat lozenges to fight bacteria. The exceptional characteristics that make eggs such a natural source of goodness in our diets are finding many other important and beneficial uses. In these cases an egg is more than an egg.

A modern farm requires lots of capital, up-to-date techniques and skilled, knowledgeable farmers. Since 1971, the average farm size has grown by about 30 percent. An increasing number of producers have university or other post-secondary education. In our business, success is a direct result of lifelong learning and innovation.

Most agricultural production takes place on specialized farms. That's not to say that farmers restrict themselves to just one product -- wheat or dairy cattle or eggs. Many farms are complex, multi-enterprise businesses. It's just that, today, very few farms have a few hens, some chickens, a pig or two and some cows for milk.

The farm products you consume come from either plants or animals. Canadians value the choices they have to achieve a balanced diet and Canada's Food Guide recommends a variety of products from the major food groups as being essential to good nutrition. If animal agriculture weren't able to provide its share of the food basket, our choices would be greatly restricted.

The mixed farm disappeared long ago. It's been replaced by well managed operations that specialize in only one or, at most, a few types of products.

Farmers within animal agriculture, too, have specialized to meet demand for meat or animal products such as milk, honey and eggs. Modern Canadian egg operations, for example, commonly have between 10, 000 and 20, 000 hens on the farms at any one time.

In the United States, concentration is even greater. South of the border, egg production has become big business. During the past 20 years, the number of producers south of the border has declined sharply from over 10, 000 to under 1, 000 and just one-third of these supply 94 percent of the eggs. Indeed, the top seven egg companies each have more than five million laying hens in their barns and the largest controls 19 million.

In Canada, our supply management marketing system has allowed us to maintain smaller farm businesses where, as owners and operators, we personally oversee the care and health of our birds. It's also permitted us to effectively specialize and realize many benefits, including greater productivity and lower costs.

Our unique marketing system has created opportunities for Canadian farmers to successfully develop this country's capacity to produce food while establishing and maintaining a high standard of care for the land we use and the animals we raise.

We could get into that old riddle about which comes first, the chicken or the egg, but it really makes more sense to start with the breeding stock.

On specialized farms in Canada and elsewhere, the traditional breeds of chickens, White Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds and others, have been raised, crossbred and improved. Poultry breeders work with the whole industry to ensure that the hens destined to produce eggs for consumers here and around the world have just the right characteristics.

The wild ancestors of today's laying hens came from Asia. Like many other birds, they lay a small number of eggs, usually five to eight in the springtime.

Domestication of the chicken started about 3,000 years ago but most of the improvements made in poultry breeding have come in this century. In 1910, a good hen could be expected to lay about seven dozen or 84 eggs a year. By the 1950s, production was up to about 150 per year. Today, thanks to generic improvements, the typical Canadian hen lays more than 285 eggs a year.

So, if we were still dependent on the hen's wild relations for the production of eggs for Canadians, we would have to have more than 600 million hens on our farms, not the 17 million we have today.

Breeders take great care in running their operations. A new cross or strain, with the characteristics in demand by the competitive world marketplace, can have considerable value. That means special attention is paid to disease prevention through the implementation of high standards of care and strict biosecurity programs.

Careful attention is also paid to the preservation of biodiversity. Breeders are aware of the need to preserve the genetic diversity of chickens for the future.

With the selection of the basic breeding stock or "grandparents" by a breeder, the cycle of production moves into its next stage. Eggs are hatched and chicks are raised to maturity for the production of hatching eggs. These chickens become the parent stock of the hens now on Canadian egg farms.

The second stage, from three to 19 weeks, is often called the growing period. Next comes the pre-laying period, from 19 to 24 weeks. It covers the changeover from growing to when the breeder female can produce hatching eggs.

Good management during these periods is the best assurance for efficient performance of the breeding flock.

Operators focus on proper feeding and lighting programs. Feed quality, energy level, protein quality and quantity are also carefully monitored and adjusted to ensure a proper nutritional balance.

Careful attention is paid to all aspects of the breeding flock's health. Many operators work closely with veterinarians to develop a flock health program that involves vaccinations against common diseases. These programs are especially important as they can positively influence the immunity of the next generation of chicks.

The centerpiece of the modern hatchery, the incubator, has come a long way from the primitive type that you may have seen on TV or at your local science museum. More often than not, it's now a series of large stainless steel, computer-controlled and monitored cabinets capable of hatching thousands of eggs at a time.

Incubators are usually electrically or hot water heated to keep the temperature constant. Fresh air is circulated continuously. But a constant temperature, good ventilation and constant humidity are not the only priorities at Canadian hatcheries. Other environmental controls, especially disease prevention and sanitation, are equally important.

Eggs remain in incubators for 18 days when they are transferred to a hatching cabinet. When hatched, the chicks are carefully removed from the hatchers.

Then, the chicks are vaccinated and prepared for shipment with 24 hours to the pullet farms where they will spend the next 19 weeks.

The reason being for beak trimming in quite simple. As they mature, young hens become increasingly aggressive and use the sharp end of their beaks to establish a pecking order in the barn. Beak trimming keeps the birds healthy.

In Canada, beak trimming is a highly specialized task performed by trained professionals. Sanitation and the prevention of infections are a priority.

The pullet grower's objective is to ensure that healthy chicks mature into healthy layer hens.

Poultry geneticists have found that it may be possible to breed hens whose aggressive behaviour is significantly reduced. Other researchers have found that changing some environmental conditions, particularly lighting, can also have an impact. These options may one day become commercial realities.

On our egg farms, the barn with its collection and storage facilities represents our greatest capital investment. Driving down a country highway, you probably wouldn't recognize our barns. But, if you look closely, they are distinguished by the presence of long rows of ventilation fans on one side and ducts on the other.

Maintaining a healthy barn environment is a high priority with producers. Many now use the latest in computer-controlled ventilation systems to ensure air circulation and temperature control, both heating and cooling. That's because one of the greatest challenges Canadian egg producers face is climate control.

With Canadian temperatures falling to as low as -40C in the winter and rocketing into the high 30s in summer, egg producers have to build well insulated barns and install the best cooling systems.

In Canada, two types of housing are common. Most of Canada's 1,300 egg producers are using cages. Some, a minority, prefer to use aviary systems where the hens are allowed full use of the barn floor or a series of pens within it. In either case, the buildings provide environments where ventilation, temperature, humidity and lighting are controlled for year-round comfort.

• ensure a safe supply of eggs;
• provide better access to feed and water;
• reduce illness;
• permit easy cleaning and higher hygiene standards.

Modern housing systems are designed to ensure that the eggs, hens, and manure are kept apart. The manure falls through holes in the unit floors and is removed by conveyor belts. The cages are also designed so the eggs roll away from the hens and into a separate egg collection system. Then, they are gently and automatically moved and delivered to the central packing area.

Producers and hens no longer engage in a game of hide and seek for eggs in the bedding or litter on the barn floor.

With cage systems, it's easier to meet this priority. Access by the birds to the feeders and drinkers is convenient and assured.

In addition, the units provide protection against predators and from the negative social or behavioural effects of congregating large numbers of birds.

The Canadian poultry industry has developed a code of practice for handling poultry. It sets out recommendations for a wide range of humane production practices from handling chicks to housing hens. Canadian egg producers carefully follow these guidelines when they install their housing systems.

The most popular housing systems stack three to nine rows of cages, one on top of the other. This makes for the efficient placement of the egg collection and manure removal equipment. It also permits the design of wide aisles which facilitates cleaning and assures effective monitoring of the flock by the producer.

Sizes and the number of hens per unit vary depending on the type and the age of the system installed by the producer. Most systems have a lifetime of between 15 and 20 years. They are expensive and represent a significant investment. So, when it's time to put in new housing, producers normally choose the most up-to-date designs available.

These systems can work. Some producers prefer them as do some customers. However, they present significant challenges and require increased management. Egg contamination by manure is one challenge. Greater stress levels and more aggressive behaviour by dominant birds are others. The evidence also suggests there are increased risks of disease through direct exposure to droppings.

Free-range housing systems, which provide access to the outdoors are rare in Canada. Our climate, with its tremendous temperature variations, discourages designing barns for year-round outdoor access. As well, this alternative presents different food safety and welfare challenges that require different management approaches. Bacterial contamination can be carried by rodents, insects and wild birds. The latter also carry avian diseases which can have serious cost implications for producers.

New cage design with wide doors are popular among producers as these allow the birds to be gently removed.

At the processing facility, the hens are humanely slaughtered according to standards which are among the highest in the world. They are then further processed, usually as stewing hens, ready for the soup pot or the casserole, or as processed meat products.

The industry, in conjunction with the scientific community, is conducting trials of alternative on-farm processing which eliminates the need for transporting live hens.

These flats are then placed on pallets, stored immediately in a cooler where the temperature is maintained at 11° to 12° C. In the cooler, eggs retain their freshness and quality while awaiting shipment to a registered grading station -- usually within a few days.

Federal inspectors take random samples of the cartoned eggs to verify the grading process and ensure that Canada's high quality standards are maintained. Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspectors also check on the sanitation and operating procedures at all grading stations to ensure that the eggs shipped to stores, restaurants and food manufacturers are of the highest quality.

At the grader's, the eggs are candled: they're passed over a strong light which makes the interior of the egg visible, allowing the grader to thoroughly examine the egg. To be Canada Grade A, the egg must have a thick white, a well centered yolk, a very small air cell and a clean, sound shell.

About 18 percent of the eggs we produce are processed into liquid, frozen and dried form. These processed eggs are used in the manufacturing of many foods from mayonnaise to noodles and baked goods. Some of them are used to make other items such as health care products, shampoo, pet foods and adhesives.

Eggs are sized according to their weight and placed in recyclable fibre, foam or plastic cartons each stamped with a Best Before date. They are then stored in a separate refrigerated room.

Eggs are delivered to the grader's where the storage rooms are temperature and humidity controlled. Soon, often within hours, they are on the automated grading line where suction cups gently lift the eggs out of the flats onto a moving track. On the track, they are washed and sanitized in a high speed tunnel washer.

Hygiene and kitchen cleanliness are important when preparing food. Make sure your hands, utensils, countertops and cutting boards are washed. Also, make sure your dish cloths and towels are freshly laundered.

Our business has changed a lot since our grandparents' day. We've replaced hen houses used only in the warmest months with modern, climate-controlled barns that permit year-round production. By using housing units, we've improved both the health of our flocks and the wholesomeness of our product. By advances in breeding and by using the latest in animal husbandry practices, we've increased production per hen by more than 340 percent over the past century. All this has delivered real value to Canadian consumers.

We hope we've answered your questions and provided you with a good introduction to how eggs are produced in Canada.

For us, producing a natural source of goodness for Canadian consumers is a matter of pride. As producers, we're especially proud that we have been able to do this by carefully balancing our business needs as farmers, your interests as consumers and the welfare of our birds.