The number of laying hens on egg-producing farms in 1995 was approximately 300 million (USDA, 1996). A substantial proportion of these hens completed the laying cycle within 1 yr. These hens are referred to and marketed as “spent hens” . Research is currently being conducted for the use of spent hens as feedstuffs (Lyons and Vandepopuliere, 1995; Scheideler,1995) and compost ingredients (Jacobs et al., 1994). A third area of research should include the production of
value-added poultry products utilizing spent hen meat. The use of mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDCM) in frankfurters, various loaf products, fermented sausages, and restructured chicken products has been well documented