Abstract: Frequent outbreak of epidemics is one of the major factors driving the poultry industry. Much stricter environmental regulations are on the way, particularly on tensions relations between individual farmers and global markets. Modern farms and agricultural operations have far differently than those a few decades ago, such as previous retail breeding mode. A large-scale breeding has become an alternatively effective way to improve the industrial competitiveness, as the advancements in new technology, and the rising cost of aquaculture. In large-scale breeding of livestock and poultry, the agricultural mechanization has been the key to improve the quality and efficiency of laying hen industry. It is necessary to explore the substitution relationship between breeding machine for laying hens and human labor in the development of large-scale agriculture and policy making. In this study, taking the provincial data in the small-scale (300-1 000 heads), medium-scale (>1 000-10 000 heads), and large-scale (more than 10 000 heads) from 2004 to 2018, the substitution elasticity of machine to labor was measured across the spatial scales and regions (east, middle, west and north-east part of China) using the function of transcending logarithm production. The specific data was collected from the National Agricultural Product Cost And Income Data Compilation (2005-2019). The results show that: 1)The industry of laying hens breeding in China behaved a trend of industrial machine substituting human labor, indicating great differences between various spatial scales and regions; 2) The substitution elasticity of machine to labor were 0.988 4, 0.303 3, 0.343 5 in the small, medium, and large scales, respectively. Specifically, the mean value for the substitution elasticity of machine to labor in the small-scale laying hens breeding increased from 0.277 3 to 1.379 1 from 2004 to 2018, but there was a large annual fluctuation. In the medium-scale laying hens breeding, the mean value for the substitution elasticity of machine to labor increased from 0.171 9 to 0.436 5 from 2004 to 2018, and there were relatively small rise and annual fluctuations. In the large-scale laying hens breeding, the mean value for the substitution elasticity of machine to labor increased from 0.293 1 to 0.306 9 from 2004 to 2018, but there was small annual fluctuations. 3) There were great differences in the substitution elasticity of machine to labor in different regions. The layout of laying hens industry was relatively stable during the measured period. The location advantages can be continued in the east region of laying hens breeding, in order to promote the “south westward” trend, and thereby to optimize the industrial layout area. In the future, an emphasis can be put on the coordinated development of large-scale mechanization in laying hens breeding. Three recommendations can be made during this time: 1) To encourage scientific and technological innovation in breeding equipment, further to upgrade specialized equipment for the substitution of mechanized breeding to human labor; 2) To make great efforts to enhance the mechanization of small-scale and medium-scale farms in laying hens breeding, while to actively guide large-scale farmers in mechanical innovation of breeding technology; 3) To strengthen the particular policy focus considering local environmental conditions. The findings can be used to strengthen the national policy, according to the replacing characteristics of industrial machine to human labor, and further to provide a sound reference for the sustainable development in laying hens industry.