When I lived in Berkeley/CA I rented an apartment in a house that was built on a double lot by a famous local architect, Bernard Maybeck.1 It was a historical landmark, which meant that the huge backyard was protected and the current owner wouldn’t get permission to build another house on the empty lot. With the help of two other tenants, I transformed the yard from a bare lot with only a few trees and weeds into a show-stopping paradise that included vegetable patches, many flower beds, a pond with a little waterfall, and fresh grass everywhere. When a friend of mine didn’t know what to do with an accidentally hatched chick I offered to take it because I had an unused rabbit hutch where I thought the chicken could live.
Well, when she was big enough to live outside (I had raised her in a box with a warming lamp) my chicken had other ideas. In the early evening she would fly (yes,fly) onto the lower branch of a tall tree and from there hop up further until she was safe from raccoons (they could climb trees as well but were too heavy for the thin branches higher up). Rain or shine, that’s where she slept. During the day she would help me with gardening; I had to protect young seedlings from her overenthusiastic pursuits, but she took care of the many snails and slugs. She explored the whole neighborhood; if somebody would ask me why the chicken crossed the road, I could answer: “Because she is curious and wants to know what’s going on over there”. She often left little piles of eggs behind some neighbors’ bushes which they gladly accepted. She was highly affectionate, enterprising, intrepid, and intelligent. Her name was Hühnchen (German for “Little Chicken”, or “Dear Chicken”).
My gentle bird led a happy and natural life which is extremely rare in the United States. It pains me to know that the vast majority of chickens are kept on intensive agriculture operations (factory farms), where they are raised and slaughtered for eggs or meat. About 325 million laying hens produced about 96.9 billion eggs in 2020, 29.3% of this was cage-free.2 These numbers mean that one chicken is forced to lay about 300 eggs a year, more than she ever would under natural conditions. After about two years a laying hen can’t produce that many eggs any more and will be killed (in a cruel manner). This is the end of a horrifically miserable life that only knows suffering and agony.
The chickens living (if one can call that) in battery cages lead the absolutely worst existence, 72% of all egg-laying hens in 2020. Small wire cages not much bigger than a normal sheet of paper can house between four and ten birds. Because these crowded conditions cause immense stress and the birds turn on each other with damaging pecking, a part of the chickens’ beaks is cut off, using a machine equipped with a hot blade. As many as 15 chickens can be debeaked in one minute, causing pain not only during the procedure but for the rest of their lives. A typical egg factory farm can house tens of thousands of hens in stacked rows of cages, in artificially lit and ventilated buildings. During their short lives they may never experience sunlight or fresh air. They can’t ever spread their wings, they can’t scratch, they can’t walk around – I know what agony this must be because I took care of my chicken and experienced how much space she required, how she loved to roam around.
Animal protection groups have been fighting for improvements for factory-farmed animals, and with the support of consumers demanded legislation to do away with battery cages. While they’re banned in the European Union from 2012, there are currently only nine U.S. states to do so: California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The demand for cage-free egg production is growing worldwide, and battery cages may be prohibited or phased out in more and more countries.3
But does this really improve the lives of these animals? True, they are no longer stuffed into battery cages. Instead, they live on the floor of a barn or warehouse – in most cases, still crammed, still without sunlight, and without outdoor access. Many cage-free chickens have their beaks trimmed in a painful manner. And just like their sisters in battery cages, they will live for only a few years, until their productivity declines. They will be killed in industrial slaughterhouses, while conscious, because poultry animals are excluded from the federal Humane Slaughter Act.
So, what about the “humane” labels we see on many products in the grocery aisles – are the products really cruelty-free or are the labels a misleading marketing strategy? People’s awareness about the deplorable treatment of factory-farmed animals has been steadily growing, and labels such as “certified humane”, “animal welfare approved”, and “American humane certified” help to soothe one’s conscience. But how correct are they? The answers to this depend very much on who one asks. For example, the “Certified Humane” label is issued by a non-profit organization “dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals in food production from birth through slaughter.” They claim that their certification guarantees the improved lives of farmed animals. However, animal rescue organizations such as PETA and Farm Sanctuary point out that even on organic egg farms chickens usually have parts of their sensitive beaks cut off, access to the outdoors is NOT a requirement, and end up in slaughterhouses after their unnaturally short lives. ASPCA stands in the middle and believes that even tiny steps in a more cruel-free direction are worth pursuing. They created an Egg Label Guide that may help you get a better idea about the meaning of these various labels.
Whether “Animal Welfare Approved” or coming from battery cages, all commercial egg producers share one gruesome practice that is hard to even write about. Male chicks don’t lay eggs and are a different breed from broilers, so they have no commercial value. In the U.S., about 300 million male chicks are killed every year. The preferred method is maceration using a high-speed grinder.
If you haven’t lost your appetite for eggs, at least buy them at a Farmers' Market, please.
Extra Reading:
Factory Farming: What It Is and Why It Is a Problem
The Truth Behind "Humane Labels"