Three dozen companies announced recently that they will be using 100 percent cage-free eggs in the next five to 10 years, says Civil Eats, which quotes an Ohio State University professor as saying the change in policy will be a case study at business school. “It’s completely market-driven,” says professor Michael Liburn. More companies are adopting animal welfare policies and states such as California, Michigan and Oregon require egg producers to give hens more space than they get in the so-called battery cage that is often used.
“‘Cage-free’ is a bit misleading, however, if you’re imagining that the chickens will be living a bucolic existence pecking out bugs in a farmyard,” said Civil Eats. ” Unlike pasture-raised birds, most “cage-free” hens will still spend their entire lives indoors, in a large, crowded open space with hundreds of other birds.” Still, the Humane Society of the United States says it’s progress. Poultry barns are expensive to build or retro-fit, so conversion to cage-free can take a decade or more. Egg prices “will probably go up a little bit – but just how much is still to be determined,” says Civil Eats.
“Hens can also become aggressive and cannibalistic when confined together, so farmers of cage-free hens will need to monitor behavior and there could be higher rates of injury and death in their flocks,” says Civil Eats.