Does laying an egg hurt?

I've been fascinated by the idea of having a vegetable garden and my very own egg-laying chicken for a while. It's not actually feasible right now to embark on either project since it's getting colder, and I have to admit that I don't have the talent for farming. Fortunately, it is possible to dream a little, and to watch youtube to see what I'm missing out on. And then I stumbled upon this video




It shows you a hen laying an egg, and it does not look like fun. In fact, it looks like it hurts. But I couldn't be sure so I asked an experienced friend who grew up on a farm.

"Yes, of course it hurts."

Apparently, hens do not make pleasant sounds when they lay eggs. He then proceeded to tell me a story about how his favorite hen died after laying an egg the size of an ostrich's egg -- she died of bleeding. That egg had 10 yolks. A little more research later, I found out that eggs increase in size as a bird gets older -- think stretched uterus. The eggs we usually get in the grocery store come from young chickens, so we're unlikely to see an egg with multiple yolks. Hens become less productive after the first couple of years, and they are usually culled.

Why would a chicken keep laying eggs every day or so if it hurts? I don't know.

According to the same friend, birth is not the most painful experience (need to find a reference for this). It is less painful than breaking a bone, and passing kidney stones. Of course, birth is a more prolonged process, so I think it all evens out.

I was traumatized about eating eggs again. But they are so good. Laying eggs is natural for a hen. I think the moral issue, if you agree that there is one, is that we kill them after their productivity declines.

Fortunately for ex-battery hens in the UK, I read about millions of hens being adopted in London. They still give eggs, although not every day. And the eggs that they produce in your backyard are probably more nutritious since they now get TLC from you.