It is the Chicken's Fault!

I want to blow a gasket every time I read profoundly ignorant statements by researchers and industry pukes who want to defend battery cages.

Here is one sad perspective embarassingly from a researcher at my very own university.  He claims that the reason there are problems with battery cages is that decades of breeding to make the white leghorn hens that lay most of the nation's eggs more productive have also boosted the birds' territorial instincts.  So they are more prone to pecking attacks that border on cannibalism.  So, what is needed is for researchers to breed chickens that are productive but less aggressive.  He calls them, "Kindler Gentler Birds."  In the meantime, they will have to be de-beaked to protect them from their cannibalistic ways.  Of course, Professor Muir is shown in his lab that looks clean enough to eat out of the cages themselves and nowhere near as cramped as those found in industry.  Say what?  It is not the problem of having the animal in a confined inhumane space that is the problem -- it is the chickens who are to blame!

Not to worry, Gene Gregory, president of the United Egg Producers that represents 90% of the nation's eggs has another rock solid (bullshit) answer to defend the battery cage practices.  He says (with no evidence) that there would be more pecking deaths with open cages and egg prices would go up because more workers would be needed to manage the birds.  Of course, what he means is that obscene profits would go down while the health of the bird and the worker would go up. 

Thank God there enlightened beings out there such as the Humane Society of the United States that maintains such conditions cause hens' needless suffering and increase their agitation by limiting their ability to walk around and preventing them from acting on natural urges to peck, nest and perch.

Thank goodness seven states have now passed laws that will eventually ban or limit different types of livestock cages.  Two of those states -- California and Michigan -- have passed laws that will eventually ban battery cages for chickens, as has the European Union.

Why should you care?  What can you do?  As an educator you should care to bring this to the attention of students because it is wrongheaded and selfish.  To justify the mistreatment to these animals to pay artificially low prices for eggs is immoral and devastating to the local farm community who is increasingly beholden to corporate ag businesses.  What you can do is not order these eggs for your labs and establish a relationship with a local egg farmer -- if one exists -- to suppy you with eggs instead  That is, unless of course, you have sold out to the corporate ag mentality and want to pay the lowest prices possible for eggs to "save money!" regardless of who supplies them to your lab.