The problem with free-range eggs

Many thoughtful people believe that they are doing a better thing by buying eggs labeled "cage free" or "free range." While certain situations may be better than the factory-farm model, it is NOT POSSIBLE to produce eggs on a commercial basis in a cruelty-free way. Here are some of the problems with eggs.

First of all, unless you have met the hens personally, you have no way of knowing what the labels on those egg cartons mean because there is no regulation of the terms "cage free" or "free range." "Cage free" hens probably live their lives in dark, cold,smelly, over-crowded buildings with no access to the outdoors. They have probably been de-beaked (without anesthesia) and are subject to forced moulting (near-starvation to the point that their feathers fall out). After a year, a much shorter period than a hen's natural lifespan, they are "spent" and either sent to slaughter or gassed or otherwise killed.

The label "free-range" can be just as deceptive. It can simply mean that hens raised in the conditions described in the previous paragraph might be given a small door with access to an outdoor enclosure even if they never actually go outdoors.

There are a few people that raise hens for eggs in a family farm setting in which the hens get to nest in a henhouse and go outdoors during the day. They can dust-bathe and socialize and their beaks are left intact. I actually know someone who has hens under just such conditions and they live a pretty nice life while they are with her family. This model is not free of problems for the animals, and I'll get to that shortly, but it also is NOT a commercially viable way to produce eggs. This family gets eggs for the family and sells the extras at their farm stand or gives them away to friends. But they have not even been able to sell them at the local health food store, because they don't produce a consistent number or size and the store wants a guaranteed supply -- they don't want disappointed customers who expect to find a certain "brand" on a regular basis.

The problems with family farm, free-range egg production don't end there. My friend buys her chicks from a commercial hatchery. Hatcheries keep the hens in terrible conditions. Boy chicks are a problem. They are sorted out and thrown away, or suffocated slowly, or thrown into grinders alive, or whatever method of "disposal" is cheapest. The female chicks are sent to farms through the US mail. Yup, you read that correctly. They MAIL live animals in boxes. Do I need to mention how many arrive dead? Baby chicks need warmth and special care. They need their mothers, actually.

The end of life is also terrible. It is not profitable to keep the hens after they stop laying. They are not pets, after all, they are egg-producing machines. So when they are "spent" (no longer laying as many eggs) they are sent to slaughter or killed in some other way.

It is not possible to make money from eggs in a way that is not cruel. The only solution is not to use eggs at all. We should not be using animals for any reason -- not for food, or clothing, or entertainment. There is no commercially viable use of animals that is not inherently wrong. If an animal is used to make money, then money becomes the focus.