Had a little hen, she had a wooden leg; best old hen that ever laid an egg...

I read in the Capitol Press agriculture news last week that people are collecting signatures in Washington for an initiative to ban the use of battery cages for laying hens. For those who are not familiar, the battery cage is the means by which the majority of eggs are produced in this country (6 million laying hens in Washington state). Each cage is about the size of a filing drawer and contains 8 birds. That's right; each bird gets an 8" x 8" space, in which it lives it's whole life. The floor is slanted so that eggs roll onto one conveyor, and droppings fall onto another conveyor. In the Capitol Press article, two arguments were presented for the maintenance of the current system: 

1. "How do they know what the hens think?" asked Duane Olsen, a veterinarian for egg producer Briarwood Farms of Rochester, Wash. "I do not believe those chickens are unhappy or they would not be laying at the rate they do."

2. Eggs will become more expensive.

I find it hard to believe that Duane Olsen received a DVM, given that he is unable to distinguish between a physiological process like egg-laying, and psychological process like 'happiness'. The truth is, I don't think my hens enjoy laying eggs. My evidence for this is that their "I've just laid an egg" vocalization is remarkably similar to their "I'm pissed off and I want others to know it" vocalization. 

For those who may not be in touch with what makes chickens happy, I'll break it down. 

Chickens have several instinctual behaviors that they will engage in if it is possible:

1. They will find a high place to roost at night

2. They will lay eggs in a concealed location. 

3. They will dust bathe and sun bath

4. They will scratch and peck

5. They seem to have some social needs, but I haven't figured out exactly what they are yet. 

Of these behaviors, the need to scratch and peck is probably the most powerful. If you keep birds that are used to ranging and hunting, they will get frustrated if you keep them inside and may peck at each other. This also happens if you keep birds that have never been outside in tight quarters without anything to sate their instinctual need to hunt and peck. This is why most birds that are kept in high density operations (caged and cage-free) have their beaks cut off when they are young. Cannibalism is not a 'normal' chicken behavior. 

Since we can't know how a chicken feels, their is a lot of room here for philosophical argument and, shall we say, 'moral flexibility'.

 - Can a hen that has never known anything else, be unhappy in a cage? I'd answer yes, because their instinctual needs are not being met.

- My backyard flock is exposed to temperature extremes, predators, potential diseases, while the battery hens are kept in a climate controlled environment, with constant access to fresh food and water. Doesn't their physiological well being make up for their psychological deficit? Again, no. While I'm not advocating physiological neglect for any domesticated animal, I think most people can look to their own lives, or observe the animals close to them (dogs, for example) to see that in many cases physiological stress is easier to endure than psychological stress.

- Are cage-free egg production systems any better than caged ones? This is a tough one. Cage free birds have more room to move, but are still kept at very high density and have to be debeaked. Birds in cage-free systems may be more prone to disease, because they mix with each other more. There is also something to be said for the fact that chickens don't really like being forced to be around a lot of other birds they don't know, and this is one point for which there is an advantage to cages.  

- Chickens do not have feelings/are not conscious. We were given dominion by god over the birds of the air. I like cheap eggs. There is no good counter arguments for these. I think you'd have to be willfully ignorant to believe that animals do not feel pain. I don't believe in a mandate for cruelty from the almighty.  

I have to think that anyone who believes that keeping 8 birds in a 2'x2' space is acceptable, just hasn't thought about what that means for the 6 million birds kept this way. The proposed law would decrease the density at which birds can be legally kept. I'm in support of anything that does that. Environmental enrichment would also be a huge help. We're not talking much here... perches, eggs laying boxes, stuff to peck at, dust baths.  

My bottom line is this: any system that requires debeaking is not a humane system; not because of the debeaking itself, but because chickens that resort to cannibalism are obviously not psychologically healthy. 

As to the problem of eggs getting more expensive if battery cages are banned; I make no argument against this, but I'd make a couple of notes:

1. Backyard hens are recession-proof

2. There are cheap sources of vegetable protein available for those who can't afford eggs and don't have a backyard.