Are Eggland's Best eggs really cruelty free?!
Are Eggland's Best eggs really cruelty free?
The box says that their hens aren't caged, but I just read an article saying that they are. What is the true story?
Answers:
Unfortunately, free range does not mean cruelty free.
There is no inspection system for companies that label their eggs "free-range."
The popular myth that "free-range" egg-laying hens enjoy fresh grass, bask in the sunlight, scratch the earth, sit on their nests, and engage in other natural habits is often just that: a myth. In many commercial "free-range" egg farms, hens are crowded inside windowless sheds with little more than a single, narrow exit leading to an enclosure, too small to accommodate all of the birds at once.
Both cage and "free-range" egg hatcheries kill all male chicks shortly after birth. Since male chicks cannot lay eggs and are different breeds than those chickens raised for meat, they are of no use to the egg industry. Standard killing methods, even among "free-range" producers, include grinding male chicks alive or throwing them into trash bags and leaving them to suffocate.
Whether kept in sheds or cages, laying hens-who can naturally live more than ten years-are considered "spent" when they are just one or two years old and their productivity wanes. Rather than being retired, "free range" hens are slaughtered to make room for another shed of birds.
Source(s):
"The waiter said, 'All of our chicken is free-range.' And I said, 'He doesn't look very free there on that plate.'"
- Bob Joe Briggs, We Are The Weird
go to peta2.com
I have heard that they are not caged, but are crowded into open pens-still horrid conditions of overcrowding. Try to purchase local farm fresh eggs from a food co op or healthfood store, so you know for sure what you are getting. Some produce stands carry eggs too. You can ask someone what conditions the chickens are raised in. I dont trust any of the big corporations to do the right thing-their bottom line is money, for the most part