Hens Trapped Indoors, But Still Sold as ‘Free-Range’
Think you’re buying ‘free-range’ eggs? Think again.
A legal loophole now allows eggs from hens who have never been outside to be sold as ‘free-range’.
The Rule Change
Bird flu outbreaks have led to government-mandated lockdowns for farmed birds. When these orders kick in, millions of hens, turkeys, and ducks are forced indoors - often for months.
Previously, after 16 weeks of confinement, eggs had to be relabelled as ‘barn eggs’. Some farmers complied. Others? Not so much.
Now, the law has changed. The grace period is indefinite - meaning a ‘free-range’ label can stay on eggs even if the hens never see daylight.
So, next time you pick up that ‘ethical’ carton of eggs, remember: labels mean nothing.
The Free-Range Myth
‘Free-range’ is a marketing term, not a welfare guarantee.
Every ‘free-range’ hen starts life in an industrial hatchery. Their brothers? Shredded, gassed, or suffocated at birth because they can’t lay eggs. The industry kills hundreds of millions of male chicks every year - too many to even count.
A ‘free-range’ hen will be slaughtered at just 1 - 2 years old - a fraction of her natural lifespan. Her body, exhausted from overproduction, is considered ‘spent’. The industry kills her when she stops being profitable.
Even rescued hens often die young due to the toll farming takes on their bodies. Naturally, chickens can live over a decade - but the industry denies them that chance.
‘Free-range’ doesn’t mean freedom.
Most hens are packed four per square metre, in barns reeking of ammonia and stress. They’re supposed to have access to the outdoors, but:
- Many never make it outside. Barns don’t have enough exits, and dominant hens block weaker ones from leaving.
- At most, 10% of hens are outdoors at any time. Many never see sunlight.
And when frustration builds? They attack each other. The industry’s solution? Mutilation. Chicks have their beaks sliced off at a day old to stop them from injuring each other in these unnatural conditions.
Free-range or caged, all hens meet the same brutal end:
- Gassed to death in a chamber.
- Hung upside down while fully conscious, electrocuted in a water bath, and then slaughtered.
All for eggs no one needs.
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