An experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of dietary energy and nutrient density (END) on performance and egg quality in laying hens during the peak stage of the first laying cycle. A total of 360, 26-week-old Hy-Line W-36 laying hens were randomly allocated to a completely randomized design with five treatments, graded levels of dietary END (92-108%), with six replicates and 12 birds each. The diet with 100% END was formulated to meet the requirements recommended in the 2016 strain Management Guide. Experiment lasted for 12 weeks. Laying hens up to 33 weeks of age did not able to adjust feed intake (FI) with diet dilution. By increasing dietary END, hen-day egg production (EP), egg mass (EM), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) linearly improved. As birds got older, their FI capacity improved and birds regulated own FI with dietary END. The effect of dietary END was not significant on egg quality traits. During the 26-29 weeks of age, based on broken‐line regression models, the best balance of egg production performance traits and dietary END were found at 102, 104, and 105% for EW, EP & EM, and FCR, respectively. These values were estimated 5% lower for 30-33 week of age period. It is concluded, laying hens up to 33 weeks of age cannot adjust their FI with diet dilution, the gastrointestinal tract capacity is the main factor affects FI. Hence, a diet with higher energy and nutrients concentration require to achieve the desired production performance. https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2022.2090287

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