There is a serious surplus of production capacity of ancestral laying hens in China.

In 2014, the price of eggs in China continued to rise. In late August, the average purchase price of eggs nationwide exceeded 11.0 yuan/kg, which was the highest price level in recent 5 years. Egg prices continue to rise and reach historical highs is the root cause of the decline in egg stocks. Statistics from the China Poultry Industry Association show that in May 2014, the number of laying hens in China fell by 12.8% year-on-year, flat month-on-month. It is expected that the inventory in June will still fall by about 10% year-on-year.

Although the number of laying hens has decreased significantly, the production capacity of upstream egg breeders is seriously excessive.

At present, there are 1.2 billion commercial laying hens in China. According to this calculation, the annual renewal and demand of parent breeding hens are 15 million and 21 million sets respectively, and the annual renewal and demand of ancestral breeding hens are 250 thousand and 360 thousand sets respectively. The annual stock of laying hens is about 350 thousand sets, which is the best balance state.

Statistics show that since 2011, the stock of ancestral egg breeders in China has continued to increase, reaching 520,000 sets in 2013 and about 700,000 sets by the end of May 2014. From January to May 2014, the average stock of ancestral egg breeders nationwide exceeded 600,000 sets, an increase of about 15% over the same period in 2013 and nearly 50% more than the actual demand.

Statistics from the China Poultry Industry Association show that the average stock of parent breeding hens from January to May 2014 was 4.87 million sets. According to the calculation that the stock of parent breeding hens accounted for 20% of the total stock of parent breeding hens, the stock of parent breeding hens nationwide was about 24.3 million sets, exceeding the actual demand by about 15%.

However, it is gratifying that the import volume of ancestral egg breeders decreased significantly in the first half of 2014. In the first half of 2014, the import volume of ancestral egg breeders nationwide was 54,400 sets, more than double that of the same period last year.