Major Metropolitan Areas in Europe. Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Commission (European Union) now designates metropolitan areas (Note) for the European Union (EU) and the European Three Trade Association (EFTA). The EU has 28 members, having just added Croatia, while the EFTA has 4 members.
Millions Of Chickens To Be Killed As Bird Flu Outbreak Puzzles Industry. Millions Of Chickens To Be Killed As Bird Flu Outbreak Puzzles Industry. Chickens stand in their cages at a farm near Stuart, Iowa, in 2009. This week, bird flu hit a large poultry facility in Iowa. It's not clear how the virus is evading the industry's biosecurity efforts.
Commercial egg producers cull layers (called battery hens) when they're one to three years old. Meat birds are slaughtered at six to eight weeks. Backyard flocks see hens living more than five years, with a few living to eight or more years. The oldest recorded hen lived to a ripe old age of 16.y the time your hen reaches three years old, her egg output has dropped to 65 percent of her maximum laying ability. This declines rapidly to where if your hen lives to 10 years old, she will only lay 20 percent of the maximum egg output of her first year.