Humane Eggs are a Myth. Get ‘Egg’ucated’ on the facts below and learn how you can TAKE ACTION and help chickens in Canada’s egg industry at the bottom of the page
Egg Production At A Glance
>>Over six billion male chicks are ground alive the day they hatch for global egg production.
»83% of Canada’s laying hens continue to be housed in battery cages.
>> Laying hens suffer greatly for egg production, and have been modified to lay over 360 eggs per years. Wild jungle fowl will only lay a clutch of 8-10 eggs every year, or as needed.
>> Cage-Free labels can be misleading, as hens still have no outdoor access and are housed by the thousands.
>>Roughly 2.6 million egg-laying hens are housed in Manitoba annually.
» The average egg farm in Manitoba houses 15,000 laying hens.
» Entire barns of laying hens are culled at the end of each ‘laying cycle’ (roughly one year) when total egg production begins to drop.
» Laying hens are considered ‘spent’ and are killed at only 12-14 months of age.
» Female chickens can easily live to 12 years of age.
» Canadian egg producers have promised to phase out battery cage housing by 2036.
Housing Definitions:
Battery Cages – 6-8 hens are kept in cramped, wire cages. No opportunity to walk more than a step on the wired floor. No opportunity provided to fully stretch their wings, forage or roam. Movement is severely restricted. Hens never leave the cages.
Enriched/Furnished Cages – Battery cages that have a perch added, and/or a plastic flaps dividing one section of the cramped cage. Hens still have no opportunity to fully stretch their wings, forage or roam. Movement is still severely restricted. Hens never leave the cages.
Free Run Barns – Laying hens are not kept in cages but crammed by the thousands in open-style barns. Barns may or may not have tiers for hens to perch. Hens are only required minimum of one square foot of space per hen. Hens do not have outdoor access, and still cannot adequately roam, forage or move freely around the barn. Some free run barn systems are worse than others. Hens never leave the barns.
‘Cage Free’ Eggs – Eggs from hens housed in free run barns.
Free Range Barns – Free run barn systems where hens are required to have an unspecified amount of time for outdoor access in weather appropriate conditions. Free range barns are the least used of all housing systems in Canada. Free range is NOT the same as Free run.
The Life Cycle of a Laying Hen:
Chickens that are raised for egg production will go through four different stages: breeder farms, hatcheries, pullet farms and layer farms.
Breeder farms are where hens are kept with roosters who fertilize their eggs. Fertilized eggs are collected and sent to a hatchery where they stay in an incubator for 18 days, after which they are removed from and hatch three days later. Chicks are sorted by sex. Female chicks go into egg production and male chicks, being useless to the industry, are killed.
It takes 18-20 weeks for a pullet to mature into a laying hen. A few weeks prior to laying their first egg, the birds are moved from pullet farms to either batter cage barns, free run barns or free range barns.
Laying hens reach peak production around 26 to 28 weeks of age, when they lay about one egg per day. At 12 to 14 months, hens start to lay fewer eggs and are considered spent and killed.
The cycle then repeats with new young hens brought into each barn, often by the thousands.
Welfare Concerns:
The Winnipeg Humane Society has several animal welfare concerns related to Canada’s Egg Industry:
On their first day of life, male chicks are ground alive or suffocated in mass quantities as they are considered useless by-product of the egg industry.
At one day of age, female chicks have their beaks seared without anesthetic. This process can cause long lasting pain and distress for hens.
Most housing systems prevent hens from engaging in natural behaviours that help them feel clean, safe, and comfortable (ex. perching, dust bathing, and having a safe secluded nest to lay their eggs). Most hens are never able to spread their wings, explore, stretch, or preen their feathers.
Constant egg laying wreaks havoc on a laying hen’s system. Producing an egg requires calcium, which is leached from the hens’ bones. Due to the high demand placed on hens’ bodies, prolapsed cloacas, osteoporosis, bumblefoot and bone fractures are extremely common. Many hens perish from the harsh conditions forced upon their bodies.
At 12-14 months when their egg production slightly falls, hens are considered worthless and are killed.
TAKE ACTION!
Help Us Help Laying Hens and Male Chicks:
» Write to the Egg Farmers of Canada and demand they stop the live grinding of male chicks.
» Write to Manitoba Egg Farmers and urge producers to prioritize transitioning to cage-free housing before 2036.
» Choose from this growing list of egg alternatives when cooking and baking.
» Share your welfare concerns related to the egg industry with your MP and Canada’s Minister of Agriculture
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