A proposed initiative in Washington State (I-1130) would basically require cage-free production of eggs by 2018. It will be on the general election ballot in November, if enough petition signatures are gathered by July.
If passed, it will virtually drive current egg producers out of business, requiring them to triple the amount of space needed to house their birds.
Most producers use banks of multi-tiered cages to house their egg-laying chickens. The Humane Society of the United States, a major backer of the initiative, says that these are inhumane. Chickens so confined suffer stress from not being able to roam about, fly or nest. They may be healthy, and producing more eggs than their cage-free counterparts – but they are not as happy as the chickens in a cage free environment.
Neither are they as happy as the people who get to charge twice as much for their cage-free eggs when they sell them – but I digress…
It seems that over the years, egg producers have found that wire mesh cages provided a number of efficiencies and benefits. The chickens’ waste falls through the cage floor so they are not walking in it. The eggs that are laid roll down a slight incline out of the cage and so are not exposed to contamination, and do not have to be hunted to be found. There are no predators to fear. Keeping the birds in small flocks of 8 to a cage, allows them the chicken social hierarchy with less risk of cannibalism. (Yes, they will eat each other, or peck some poor peon-chicken to death – Maybe HSUS should have sensitivity training classes for that! Sorry, I digress again…) Granted, these chickens cannot spread their wings and fly…but they can move about the cage freely, and are even able to back away from visitors who peer in to check on them.
However, in the midst of all these innovations, no one ever made provision for chicken happiness.
Though cages allow greater efficiency, better sanitation, less stress & higher production, HSUS argues that you can’t prove chicken happiness by good production. They maintain that these chickens are frustrated because they cannot nest, or move about freely, or enjoy the social benefits of a larger flock.
Back in the day, the aforementioned innovations were considered progress – practices determined to be better for the chickens, and the humans tasked with getting them to produce eggs. Now some consider them the diabolical plot of factory farms to coerce chickens to produce an inordinate quantity of eggs with no regard for their...uh, happiness?
I can’t believe that farmers are now expected to ensure their animals’ happiness! Who will determine when an animal is happy? HOW will they determine if the animals are happy? You can’t blood test for happiness…So will it be a consensus vote of the flock? A random sampling of individuals? What if you just have a bunch of chickens with bad attitudes?
Despite my love of anthropomorphism, especially regarding my dog( – I am sure she is “sad” when I leave), we need to remember this: Animals are NOT people.
I grew up on a dairy farm, and we observed that if a cow didn’t feel well, she didn’t do well…So our main occupation was to make sure the cows were doing well. True, we didn’t consult them about milking times, or grain choices, or whether they preferred pasture to alfalfa in the feeder. But we made all those decisions based on our observations of their responses to our actions. It was our responsibility to determine what was best for them…and we did.
It wasn’t like they wanted to give the input. As long as the feeder was full, and the bedding was dry, they seemed pretty darn…content. And those who make a living dependent on the behavior of animals are usually smart enough to know that contentment is about as close to happiness as anyone can get.
If this Proposition (1130) makes it to the November ballot, undoubtedly you will hear horror stories of cruelty to chickens. I ask that before you decide your vote, you research both sides. Talk to a chicken farmer, as did Dan Wheat, who wrote the article that brought this issue to my attention. {capitalpress.com -- “Chickens have room to move”} After he investigated the issue, he concluded that the issue the voters will decide is whether “{you are} willing to pay more, perhaps twice as much, for eggs, knowing they came from chickens who lived their 2 year lives being able to flap their wings”.
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