It might make a larger omelette but a bigger egg isn't necessarily a better one — and it certainly doesn't make the hen that laid it very happy.

That is the view of the chairman of the British Free Range Producers' Association, who says that if you want to be kind to hens, you should eat medium, not large or very large, eggs.

“It can be painful to the hen to lay a larger egg,” Tom Vesey, who keeps 16,000 hens on 45 acres at Dingestow, Monmouth, told The Times. “There is also the stress, which is a big problem as it takes more out of hens to lay large eggs. It would be kinder to eat smaller eggs. Whenever I go to the Continent people eat medium-sized eggs yet here the housewife seems to be wedded to large eggs.”

He also suggests people would do better eating a breakfast of two medium-sized eggs rather than one large one. “I prefer medium eggs,” he said， “They taste better, are less watery and don't run off the plate.”

Mr Vesey, who says he is determined to change egg-shopping habits, insists that farmers only produce large eggs because they receive more for them from supermarkets. The average price for 12 free-range eggs paid to a farmer is 77p for medium, £1 for large and just over £1 for very large.

Mr Vesey has been criticised by industry chiefs for raising the issue in The Grocer but animal welfare experts say his argument is valid. Phil Brooke, of Compassion in World Farming, said: “Selectively breeding hens for high productivity, whether larger eggs or larger numbers of eggs, can cause a range of problems such as osteoporosis, bone breakage and prolapse. We need to breed and feed hens so that they can produce eggs without risk to their health or welfare.”

Christine Nicol, Professor of Animal Welfare at the University of Bristol, said: “There is no strong published evidence of pain in egg-laying hens but it's not unreasonable to think there may be a mismatch in the size of birds and the eggs they produce. We do often spot bloodstains on large eggs. As a personal decision I would never buy jumbo eggs.”

Prices for very large eggs have decreased slightly over the past year, something Mr Vesey believes may make farmers think again about their production. He would like to see higher prices paid for medium eggs to encourage production. There is little consumer demand for small eggs, which weigh less than 53g and are mostly used in processed food.

He thinks by changing the protein element of poultry feed it is possible for farmers to slow down the process of egg production so that hens can lay smaller eggs. He also suggests that farmers will make more profit from producing medium eggs because there will be fewer breakages. The volume of egg shell is the same on a medium as on a large or very large egg. Thin shells mean more cracked eggs.

Mark Williams, head of the British Egg Industry Council, said shoppers mostly opted for large eggs, thinking they offered better value for money. “But it is possible consumers could be switched off from buying large overnight,” he said.

Alan Pearson, spokesman for the British Poultry Veterinary Association, said: “Frankly I think there are bigger welfare issues that people have in their minds, such as hens in cages. The size of an egg rarely causes problems for the bird.”

Lindsey Bareham, The Times cook, said: “I have no doubt that the diet of the chicken is what affects the flavour of its eggs, not the size. If eggs from organic, free-range chickens aren't available, I'd rather go without.”

用一個(gè)大雞蛋做的煎蛋卷也許更大，但大雞蛋并不一定比小雞蛋更好——產(chǎn)下大個(gè)雞蛋的母雞肯定悶悶不樂。

英國(guó)家禽放養(yǎng)者協(xié)會(huì)的主席就是這么想的，他說如果你想善待母雞，那就應(yīng)該吃中號(hào)的雞蛋，而不是大號(hào)甚至特大號(hào)雞蛋。

Tom Vesey在蒙茅斯的丁格斯托有一家占地45英畝的養(yǎng)雞場(chǎng)，共蓄養(yǎng)了16000只母雞。他告訴《泰晤士報(bào)》記者：“對(duì)于母雞來說，產(chǎn)下一個(gè)大個(gè)的雞蛋可能會(huì)是一件痛苦的事情。母雞還要面對(duì)產(chǎn)蛋的緊張情緒。這也是一個(gè)大問題，因?yàn)橐�下大個(gè)的蛋，母雞的付出也更多。還是吃小點(diǎn)的雞蛋吧，那樣更人道。歐洲大陸上的人們都吃中號(hào)的雞蛋，而英國(guó)的家庭主婦們似乎對(duì)大號(hào)的雞蛋情有獨(dú)鐘。”

Vesey先生還說，人們?cè)绮蜁r(shí)候吃兩個(gè)中號(hào)雞蛋而不是一個(gè)大雞蛋實(shí)際上更有好處。“我喜歡中號(hào)雞蛋，”他說，“中號(hào)雞蛋味道更好，水分更少，而且不會(huì)從盤子中滑出去。”

Vesey先生說他決心改變?nèi)藗冑I雞蛋的習(xí)慣。他認(rèn)為，農(nóng)民生產(chǎn)大個(gè)的雞蛋是為了多賺錢。根據(jù)市面上一打雞蛋的平均價(jià)格，每賣出一個(gè)中號(hào)雞蛋，農(nóng)民能獲得77便士，而賣出一個(gè)大號(hào)雞蛋能賺一英鎊，賣出一個(gè)特大號(hào)雞蛋的收入則能超過一英鎊。

雞蛋產(chǎn)業(yè)領(lǐng)袖批評(píng)Vesey先生在《雜貨商》雜志中提出雞蛋個(gè)頭的問題是小題大作，但動(dòng)物權(quán)利專家認(rèn)為Vesey先生的觀點(diǎn)有道理。世界農(nóng)場(chǎng)動(dòng)物福利協(xié)會(huì)的Phil Brooke說：“無(wú)論是為了得到更大的蛋還是更多的蛋，有意促進(jìn)母雞生產(chǎn)能力的做法都會(huì)造成諸如骨質(zhì)疏松、骨折和脫臼等一系列問題。我們?cè)陴B(yǎng)殖母雞的過程中不應(yīng)該損害它們的健康或者福利。

Christine Nicol教授是布里斯托大學(xué)動(dòng)物福利專家。他說：“雖然沒有任何有說服力的資料證明產(chǎn)蛋過程會(huì)為母雞帶來痛苦，但我們的確應(yīng)該考慮一下讓母雞產(chǎn)大個(gè)的雞蛋是不是‘強(qiáng)雞所難’。人們?cè)诖箅u蛋上常�？梢钥吹窖�絲。從我個(gè)人來講，我是不會(huì)買超大號(hào)雞蛋的。”

過去一年中，大號(hào)雞蛋的價(jià)格稍稍下降了一些。Vesey先生相信這可以讓農(nóng)民們重新思考一下他們應(yīng)該生產(chǎn)什么樣的雞蛋。他希望能夠提高中號(hào)雞蛋的收購(gòu)價(jià)格以鼓勵(lì)生產(chǎn)。消費(fèi)者對(duì)53克以下的小個(gè)雞蛋需求量并不大，這種雞蛋一般用于食品加工。

Vesey先生認(rèn)為，可以通過改變雞飼料的蛋白質(zhì)成分減緩產(chǎn)蛋過程，從而讓雞蛋小一些。他還提出，中號(hào)的雞蛋可以給農(nóng)民帶來更多收益，因?yàn)椴粫?huì)有那么多蛋碎掉。無(wú)論是中號(hào)的雞蛋還是大號(hào)或者特大號(hào)的雞蛋，蛋殼的容量都是相同的。而蛋殼薄的大雞蛋也更容易破。

英國(guó)蛋產(chǎn)業(yè)協(xié)會(huì)的主席Mark Williams說，多數(shù)消費(fèi)者選擇大雞蛋是因?yàn)樗麄冇X得大雞蛋性價(jià)比高。“但消費(fèi)者也可能一夜之間就不買大雞蛋了，”他說。

英國(guó)家禽醫(yī)學(xué)會(huì)的發(fā)言人Alan Pearson說：“坦誠(chéng)地講，我認(rèn)為還有許多更值得人們關(guān)注的動(dòng)物權(quán)利問題，比如被困在狹窄鐵籠里的母雞。蛋的大小對(duì)禽類來說幾乎不算什么問題。”

《泰晤士報(bào)》大廚Lindsey Bareham說：“毫無(wú)疑問，雞蛋的味道是由母雞的飲食決定的，而不是蛋的大小。如果沒有吃有機(jī)飼料的放養(yǎng)母雞下的蛋，我寧可不吃。”