Yes, I realize that eggs aren’t technically meat, but the over 285 million hens that are raised for eggs each year are arguably the most abused of all livestock animals. These birds spend the entirety of their lives packed 7 or 8 hens to each battery cage. This gives each animal the space of slightly smaller than a piece of paper.
Hens in battery cages do not have room to spread their wings, walk, or even lie down. These animals not only suffer from boredom and frustration, but also have elevated stress and aggression levels, causing some hens to peck others to death. To prevent these behaviors caused by extreme crowding, hens are kept in semi-darkness and the ends of their beaks are cut off with a hot blade. No painkillers are administered during this painful process.
Because hens are crammed in their cages, the wire mesh rubs against their skin, rubbing it raw, and the wire mesh on the bottom of the cage (the cages do not have a solid bottom) cripples their feet.
Farmers induce greater egg production through forced molting, which shocks the hens’ bodies into another egg-laying cycle by starving them for days and keeping them in the dark, a stressful situation that causes them to lose feathers and weight. Flocks that are not force-molted are simply slaughtered after one egg laying season.
Broken bones are also common among these birds, who suffer from a painful condition called “cage layer osteoporosis,” a result of the high calcium demand of egg laying. A study published in Poultry Science explained that “high production hens’ structural bone is mobilized throughout the laying period in order to contribute to the formation of eggshell.”
Although chickens can live for over 10 years, hens raised for their eggs are exhausted, and their egg production begins to wane when they are about 2 years old. When this happens, they are slaughtered. More than 100 million “spent” hens are killed in slaughterhouses each year. Most are used in processed foods (and are disgustingly sickly like the hens pictured above – yes, that’s what you’re eating).
Millions of day-old male chicks are killed every year, usually in high-speed grinders called macerators, which shred them alive because they are worthless to the egg industry.
(It sickens me that we treat living beings like inanimate objects.)
For more information about the egg industry, visit chooseveg.com.
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Breakfast: An apple and a banana
Lunch: Grilled veggie sub from the deli downstairs
Dinner: Chow mein, tofu stir-fry, and mixed veggies from Panda Express
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James Duff says:
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 5:31 am (UTC -5)
The Battery Hen Welfare Trust, (www.bhwt.org.uk) in the UK has been campaigning against battery famring, (for eggs) for some time now – with great success. We also have a softer side, re-homing spent hens when they become commerically unviable to the public. We do not condemn the farmers who are making a legal living. Rather we try to convince the public that their egg-fried rice, or supermarket quiche is supporting this industry by maintaining its markets.
I’m not a vegetarian myself, but have spent 10 years as a part time farmer and understand your arguments.
All visitors to my blog at http://www.scottishhen.co.uk are of course welcome!