Eggs have been eaten by human beings and our ancestors
ever since we evolved into big enough furry creatures to break the shells!
Many people whose ethics don't allow them to eat meat or support any part
of the dairy industry, still occasionally eat eggs - but the difference in
how a laying hen is kept is enormous. It is the difference between being locked
in solitary and tortured in dirty prison or living a life of freedom and creativity
with love and abundance.
The following is written by Julia Jackdaw ...
If you don’t own chickens or know someone who does,
or a local farm where you can buy eggs from happy hens, then the best ones
to buy from the Supermarket are Organic Free Range eggs bearing The Soil Association’s
stamp of approval.
I have three chickens, fanny, flossie and floozie (The Three
F’s), and I love them. In return for a daily scoop of mash pellets,
and scrumptious salads of tasty kitchen leftovers, they give me three delicious
eggs a day, more than my small family can eat in a week, but the rest I give
to friends and neighbours. My lovely ladies are easy to keep, very undemanding
and extremely entertaining. They frequently help me in the garden - I call
it weeding, they call it shopping; they scratch the earth looking for bugs
and other tasty morsels pecking at everything and anything that looks remotely
interesting, disdainfully tossing aside anything not to their liking, but
gobbling up with delight other delectable treats, perhaps a nice fat worm,
succulent dandelion leaf with caterpillar on the side, or juicy red raspberry.
Like all girls, they love to wallow in a nice warm bath, though with dust
not bubbles. Sometimes they groom each other - a bit like doing each others
make-up, and afterwards, they strut around in their little gang, heads aloft,
shaking their tail feathers, chattering between themselves and squawking with
excitement at the latest gossip. And when the sun goes down, they take themselves
off to bed for their beauty sleep ready for another busy, day in hen heaven,
scratching, pecking and grazing to their hearts content..
However … Not all chickens are so lucky …
According to research by the UK Vegetarian Society there
are over 33 million laying hens in the UK. About 85% are kept in battery cages,
or percheries and only 10% are “free range“. Eggs from battery
hens do not have to be labelled as such. Eggs sold as farm-fresh or country-fresh
are invariably from battery or barn hens.
Most commercially produced eggs come from
hens which are kept in cramped, overcrowded surroundings which means that
they are unable to fulfil basic behavioural needs such as wing-flapping, dust-bathing,
pecking, perching and scratching. The sheds in which the chickens are housed
can contain up to 30,000 birds. Heating, ventilation, feeding and lighting
are all automatically controlled. Artificial lighting is kept on for 17 hours
each day to increase production. Feed can include the recycled remains of
unwanted male chicks and other animal products as well as growth-promoting
antibiotics, yolk colourants and other additives. For battery hens, kept in
cages, the 1986 EC Battery Hens Directive sets a minimum floor area of just
450 square cm per bird - this is smaller than a sheet of A4 paper.
Overcrowding and stress causes aggressive behaviour, even
cannibalism. Debeaking is common in all systems. This happens to young chicks,
and involves cutting off one-third of the bill using a heated blade without
anaesthetic. Studies have shown that the resulting pain lasts for a prolonged
period if not indefinitely, and in some cases profuse bleeding and death from
shock occurs.
Even commercial free-range systems, which
allow about 200 times more space than battery hens, involve massive flocks,
often around 15,000 birds, which are also housed in huge sheds and who are
also commonly debeaked. Regulations on free range systems are “loose”
and information hard to find, but generally, in order for the producer to
put “free range” on the box, the birds must have continuous access
to open-air runs which means the sheds have a number of pop-holes. However,
this does not mean that the chickens ever see the light of day as birds are
territorial, and the more aggressive ones, guard the popholes, preventing
the weaker ones from getting out. So really, it is very difficult to find
happy eggs, from commercially reared chickens.
So what to do? If you do want to buy eggs, make sure that
you are buying them from sources that you are sure provide healthy and respectful
care for the hens. In rural areas, you may find someone local who keeps hens.
In the city, check the internet for the company, ask questions, demand answers,
make calls : once you find a good supplier, stick with them.
Don't be complicit in the hen hell. Life can be heaven for
hens, providing wonderful eggs for us to eat!
Links to further information:
Peta’s information on Commercial Egg production
http://www.peta.org.uk/factsheet/files/FactsheetDisplay.asp?ID=115
Information on the same from the Vegetarian Society
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/laying.html
Soil Association egg information
http://www.soilassociation.org/web/sa/saweb.nsf/a71fa2b6e2b6d3e980256a6c004542b4/674c00f8ade6722c80257031004b1c54!OpenDocument
DEFRA code of recommendations for the welfare of laying hens
(as pdf file)
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/farmed/layers/layerscode.pdf
More information on Battery Hen cruelty plus a Rescue scheme
http://www.thehenshouse.co.uk/index.html
Links to chicken keeping:
OMLET : a fantastic resource for chicken beginners and the
fashion conscious! Omlet provide eco friendly “eglus” for up to
4 chickens, plus everything you need to keep them.
http://www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/homepage.php
Where to find a chicken coop - these people provide an excellent
delivery service:
http://www.langhalegardens.co.uk/shop/index.htm
