Wis. egg-laying hens had productive year in 2012

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin's egg-laying hens had a good year last year, increasing their total output by 7 percent over 2011 figures.
    
Recent figures show that Wisconsin produced about 1.4 billion eggs over the 12-month period ending Nov. 30. That's up from about 1.3 billion during the previous 12 months.
    
The increased productivity can be attributed to two factors - more chickens and more eggs laid per hen. The average laying hen produced 277 eggs over the past year, two more than during the previous year. And the number of egg-laying hens increased 6.5 percent to just under 5 million birds.
    
Wisconsin remains ranked 18th in the nation in egg production. Iowa leads the nation by far, with about 14.5 billion eggs. Minnesota is 11th with 2.8 billion eggs.