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Battery Hens - Is it caged cruelty?
Out of all the factory farm issues that have even been brought to the public's attention, the caged eggs issue appears to be the most well known. In Australia over 200 million dozen eggs are produced every year. Although consumers are slowly switching from buying caged eggs to free range, it doesn't stop the fact that around 10.4 million hens are still suffering from physical and mental trauma in traditional ‘battery' cages in Australia.
 What do you mean by battery cage?
A battery cage is one in a series of identical or similar cages. Battery cages are usually stacked in several horizontal tiers .
How big are the cages?
The wire mesh cages average 40cm high with a floor area per bird of 450cm2 - about three-quarters of A4 sized paper.
How many hens are in a cage?
A typical battery cage can have up to 4 hens. However, there have been recorded cases of 6 hens in one cage.
How are battery cages cruel? (An Animal Rights Perspective)
Hens have a 'pecking order' which refers to the hierarchy natural in a flock. In the cages frustrated natural urges lead to more aggressive pecking, and weaker hens who cannot escape may suffer.
Debeaking is carried out to reduce this behaviour, but it is only partial solution, and is cruel. Egg producers routinely debeak chicks at 1-10 days old by cutting off up to half of the upper mandible and a third of the bottom with a red hot blade or wire. This procedure is sometimes termed "beak trimming". If beaks have regrown, producers debeak a second time just prior or during the laying period.
Debeaking is a painful procedure which causes chicks extreme shock, and some may even die. Pain is immediate, causing chicks to react visibly to the blade, but there are also long-term effects because the beak contains sensitive nerves which are exposed by cutting. As the beak is tiny and the process mechanical and executed with "production line" speed, sometimes too much beak can be removed.
At about four months, around the time she reaches sexual maturity a young hen (pullet) is transferred from a deep litter shed (or sometimes rearing cages) to a cage in a "battery" (an arrangement of similar units in rows, sometimes in tiers) in a large shed housing thousands of birds.
Being crammed in a small wire cage all her life means the hen can't move properly. Her movement is so restricted that she is unable to stretch her wings out fully, nor stretch her legs. Other natural instinct such as dust bathing , nesting and foraging is taken away from her. All her senses are crying out to fulfill these natural behaviors. The hens suffer poor bone development from lack of exercise, pecking from other hens, overcrowding, as well as foot, feather and skin damage caused by abrasion from the wire floor and walls. Since there is little care or welfare, many battery cages are left unchecked for weeks, in which dying or dead hens are left to rot.
From an animal rights perspective the whole concept of mass production of eggs is unacceptable. Since its only the hens that can lay eggs, all the male chicks have no economical value so they are killed once they have hatched and identified as male.
The Code of Practice for Egg Laying Poultry recommends that they are gassed with carbon dioxide, but since this isn't enforced by the law, male chicks have been known to be simply thrown into a grinding machine while still alive. Others are just thrown into large garbage bins where the weight from newly disposed chicks crush and suffocate the ones closer to the bottom. The ones that are unlucky enough to survive that ordeal are just left to starve to death.
In summary, battery cages can be seen as cruel for the following reasons:
- Chronic frustration of normal behaviours including dustbathing and wing-flapping.
- Chronic inhibition of comfort behaviours and increased incidence of frustration behaviours.
- Acute suffering during the pre-laying period every day caused by frustration of nesting behaviour.
- Chronic stress and disruption of social interaction
- Prevention of foraging and feather pecking.
- Inability to maintain bone strength due to restriction of exercise.
- Lack of perching opportunities and prevention of roosting.
THAT'S TERRIBLE! WHAT CAN I DO?
As a student you have fantastic opportunities to help stop animal cruelty by reaching out to others and educating them. Your school should be supportive of any small project reflecting a good cause and promoting education. If you do want to start a project but finding it difficult to get resources or support, contact us and we'll be more than happy to help you.
If you want no part at all in this industry, the best thing is to stop eating eggs. Even if you do buy available ‘free range' eggs from the supermarkets, there would still be cruelty issues. The reason for this is due to the big egg industries having a ‘free range' and ‘barn laid' options. Although they may advertise them to be cruelty free, you dollar is still going to that company that uses battery cages.
If you know a local farmer that is 100% free range (in which the hens are not caged or in a barn and have freedom of movement and choice), and does not dispose of male chicks, you can buy eggs from them. Make sure they're not affiliated with any big egg industries. A simple visit to their premises and a look around is a good idea. If they don't allow you to have a look at the hens then you know they're hiding something. Instead of funding mass scale animal cruelty, support local small businesses.
Although most people are aware of the battery hens issue and may choose to buy free range eggs, there are still many that do not. Talk to family, friends or other students about the eggs they buy.
Promote the use of cruelty free eggs at your school canteen. Talk to them about the cruelty issues and have them support your cause.
Be creative and pro-active! Design a poster and ask for your school's permission to display it around your school.
Run a campaign! Do a project about the industry and inform your school about the issue. For campaign ideas, go here.
Check out Animals Australia Free Betty website for addition info!
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