Do you ever wonder what life is like for the chickens that lay the eggs you buy at the grocery store? The picture below shows the horrific living conditions that most egg-laying hens are forced to live in:
These hens are called "battery hens." They were named after the tiny cages that they live most to all of their life in, battery cages. Each cage usually contains around four hens, and none of the cages have any nest for the hens to lay their eggs in. The have hardly, if any room to move around, only enough room to lay eggs, which fall through the wire cage onto a factory-like conveyor belt. Due to the terrible conditions, many battery hens pluck their own feathers out, have severe depression, and even kill each other.
Another thing you probably didn't know about egg farming is that the eggs from the grocery store are not nearly as healthy for you as home-grown eggs. The worst eggs you can buy from the store are the ones that are not organic and not from cage-free or free-range hens. Although, even the cage-free and free-range eggs are not good. Cage-free simply means that the hens are stuffed tightly in a building together, just without metal cages. Free range means that the hens are allowed to roam around outside at a farm, but the hens still sleep and live at least one third of their time stuck in a building. Non-organic eggs are often full of dye and even hormones as well, as an attempt to make them look fresher and healthier. And to add to the problem even more, the eggs you buy are old and near-rotting. It takes so long for egg companies to get those eggs to the store that, by the time the get there, they are quite old. I can't name ANYTHING good about store-bought eggs.
One more thing that you probably didn't know about egg farming is that most hens are "disposed of" once they stop laying eggs, usually at around two years old. The hens that do survive often end up at farm animal sanctuaries and bird sanctuaries, where they can usually be adopted. Most people won't adopt them, however, because they are often in horrible condition (see the above photo). Those who do adopt them, though, can save their lives, and even make a once-suffering hen happy again.
As much as these hens suffer, many who are rescued will still warm up to humans, even eating from their hands like in the photo above. Even though ex-battery hens usually don't lay eggs anymore, they can still make excellent pets. If you would like to adopt an ex-battery hen, look up your local farm sanctuary or your local bird sanctuary, and help a chicken have a better life. Also, if you would like to support People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), please click the link at the bottom of this page, and then click "Donate Now."
I hope that you will take the importance of treating these animal lives well seriously, and I hope that this article was informational or even eye-opening for you. Thank you for reading my article!
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