I would love to read some feedback from farmers and/or animal welfare specialists on this piece from the Des Moines Register (which typically has some of the better ag reporting among mainstream, daily newspapers). The article is headlined Critics of old henhouses drive a shift to cage-free, and by my read, the article has a reasoned tone that tells both sides of the cage-free chicken issue fairly well.
For example, here is writer Philip Brasher reporting on poultry man Dave Rosenberry’s 83,000-bird cage-free egg operation:
The key to raising cage-free hens is to give them the right training as pullets, said Denny Williamson of Powls Associates, which contracts with Rosenberry to raise the hens. They have to be taught, for example, to hop up to the platforms.
Even as adults, the birds require more attention than if they were left in cages. Poorly managed birds sometimes attack, even kill, one another, according to specialists.
“Before we managed equipment, now we’re managing birds,” Rosenberry said. [emph mine]
He must spend more of his time in the houses, he said, and he hires two people to work several hours a day retrieving eggs that hens lay on the barn floors.
His hens show no fear of humans, whereas caged hens can appear skittish. But they do have one behavior that’s more than a little odd to the uninitiated: The hens will walk in front of a visitor and squat. They think the person is a rooster ready to mate with them, Williamson said. He gives them a squeeze and they scurry away.
Suzanne Millman, an animal welfare specialist at Iowa State University, said such behavior is a sign that the hens are well-managed – they’re used to humans.
She and other industry experts say cage-free operations take more skill and time to manage properly than conventional.
“There are a lot of people that are in the egg business that I wouldn’t suggest that they go into cage-free,” Williamson said.
Feed costs also are higher – cage-free birds eat more – and that means it takes more corn and soybeans to produce eggs this way.
And here is Brasher reporting on the other side of the story:
Some in the industry, [Paul] Sauder [a major egg distributor] included, are hoping California will permit farms to install European-style cage systems that have perches and nesting areas included.
The cages are much larger than conventional ones and are known in the industry as “colony” or “enriched” housing. They can be stacked so that barns hold more hens than conventionally equipped house, and production costs would be just 10 cents a dozen higher than in conventional caging, Sauder said.
The Humane Society argued that caged housing can’t meet the requirements of the ballot measure.
But producing eggs cage-free doesn’t make economic sense, said Kevin Vinchattle, executive director of the Iowa Egg Council.
“The land resources and other kinds of things to go cage-free with everything is just not a reality,” he said. “What’s the ultimate purpose? Do we want to drive food production offshore?” [emph mine]
Now here’s my question, farmers and animal welfare advocates. Is this decent reporting? Balanced? I’m only giving you a snippet here, so please do read the whole piece. But does it lay out the case for shoppers interested in these issues?
Organic poultry farmers, what do you think of this? Has the Des Moines Register described your point of view well or not?
If you’ve got more/better information, pleae throw em down in the comment section.
One last bit of grist for the discussion:
This really doesn’t address your question, but only brings up more. “Cage free” makes many think of chickens roaming the countryside, and that just isn’t the case. You’re still looking at birds so packed in that wingspace is minimal, no fresh air or sunshine, etc. Sure, it’s not cages, but it’s still far from what chickens need.
Don’t mean to stir up feathers (heh) just want to point up that “cage free” doesn’t mean what many egg-buyers think it does.
http://localnourishment.com/2009/12/17/eating-cage-free-eggs/
No I’m glad you pointed that out. 80,000+ birds in this cage-free operation? Plus, it’s certified organic? Curious…
I really think that there is something off with this article that makes it quite misleading. One of the problems I see is… what is the point of the article? Is it trying to get consumers aware of the ‘free-trade’ birds, the california law that changed to allow ‘more space’ for the birds, to make consumers feel better about themselves, or something else? And honestly, I think the message the article is trying to make is to make the consumers feel good about themselves without looking at the issues that still remain in the industialized food world. This article is nothing more that a ‘fluffer.’ Give the consumers what they want to hear in the least offensive way to the egg producers. How else would they sell eggs otherwise? If he lifted the veil to also show the issues within the ‘free-range’ system and then talk about systems (pasture rotation anyone?!?!) then I would give some more credibility on this guy. But he doesn’t.
A commenter on Twitter says:
“Egg prices are strange. Cage-free eggs cheaper in my small SD town [Vermillion] than same eggs in Minneapolis, although now further away.”
The industry’s definition of “cage-free” is definitely a far cry from the consumer’s idea. While the animal welfare aspect may be a bit better in the current incarnation of cage-free operations, hens are still stuffed into barns by the tens of thousands, which brings into play a whole host of other issues. For example, “cage-free” hens in such close quarters can be more prone to aggression and cannibalism or suffocating each other when panicked. I would be more appreciative of this article if it, and the many others I have seen about “cage-free,” could actually delve into the specifics of how the birds are raised in these operations, and in the industry’s definition of “free-range,” and how they differ from consumer ideas and expectations.
But, to get more on point, I find a couple of things interesting about this article. First, it is highlighting the rising knowledge and participation level of consumers in the food system and the change that is occuring in the marketplace as a result. I think it’s important to note that legislation like Prop 2 is largely supported by consumers who, contrary to what Big Ag will cry, do not actually hate agriculture or want to put farmers out of business; they’re just demanding a higher standard of the industry– which is a fantastic thing!
The second thing to strike me about the article is the emphasis on a need for cage-free chicken farmers to become stewards of the animal, not of the technology. Now that’s bound to raise the ire of farmers! But, it certainly rings true. Cage-free eggs will require more labor, labor better educated and trained in animal husbandry instead of trained to push buttons in a control booth in accordance with company policy. That’s going to be a big change and a damned good one. And you know what? With 30+ million people out of work in this country, it seems like a great opportunity.
One final point before I must run: the only objection by “Big Ag” seems to be cost involved. Just because you *can* do something cheaply, it doesn’t mean you should. Is there any other industry where the cheapest option is the best, highest quality? Especially when it outsources the social and environmental costs are outsourced to the rest of the community? The difference is a matter of cents and you can still get cage-free eggs (or even organic, true free range eggs) cheaper than a bag of potato chips, so stop whining!
Joya Parsons
Quite Contrary Gardens
How many chickens do you have on your farm, Joya? Do you rotationlly graze? Jake was talking about rotational grazing upstream in this thread, and I wondered if it’s even possible to pasture like that on an industrial level.
Thanks, Jake! (I think that’s Jake?. I know so little about poultry/egg production, I was hoping fo rsome smart folks tow eigh in, so thanks.
Harmony Organic eggs in Minnesota has a pretty cool rotation system where they open doors on different — well if it were beef, I would “paddocks — quadrants? — and let the chickens peck for a few days. Close it up, open the next, etc. It’s a small flock and a barn that works for their system, but I’ve always wondered if it’s even possible for an industrial operation to pasture rotationally.
I’m reminded of Fair Food Fighter Ojo del Tigre who works in the fair trade banana industry — a very tough row to hoe, since he has to undo the expectation of 70+ years that American bananas should be 29 cents a pound. The price has honestly not changed in all that time. Industrial banana production has completely swayed consumer expectation to believe.29/# is real, sane.
I do worry about poultry farmers not being able to make this transition to cage-free, or something acceptable, but my main concern, as a former grocery guy, is always consumer perception particularly in the natural foods world. So many bogus claims and sucker labels, it’s pathetic. In some ways I would rather the food system were more stark — either 99 cents for a dozen industrial-scale eggs or $5 for the less-intensive kind, and consumers could do the math themselves.
Unfortunately, price is just as tricky as any label (as the commenter from South Dakota pointed out upstream).
We keep around ten free range laying hens at the homestead and raise several hundred broilers and layers at the family farm 1/4 mile away. The layers are true free range in that they have complete access to the entire property to forage and only come into the coop at night or during severe weather. The broilers are rotationally grazed in pens.
It is not possible to raise chickens on pasture on the same scale that the industry does it today. Currently, you may have as many as 40,000 birds on one acre in a broiler house. There is no way that one acre of land can naturally sustain that many birds. Not only is there not enough vegetation, there is no way the land can absorb the nitrogen load. In my area, pasture is capable of absorbing and upper limit of around 200lbs/acre of nitrogen per growing season so that limits the number of birds I can responsibly raise in one area. It would take much more land than is currently allotted to raise chickens on the scale that we do today (in my area- the Delmarva Peninsula- we raise nearly 600 million broilers every year). On one hand, some land that would no longer be needed for corn & soy for chicken feed could be put into production raising chickens on pasture instead (pasture cuts need for grain by 25-30%) and lands that are currently underutilized, such as tree farms, can be used for double duty to raise chickens (there are spectacular chickens being grown in pine forests on the French Label Rouge program). On the other hand, I’m not sure the current level of ultra-industrialized production can be matched. Per capita chicken consumption has tripled in the past 35 years. Is that wise OR sustainable?
Joya Parsons
Great article on the Atlantic Food Channel about a gourmet tasting of heritage chicken breeds (and which features ProFood friend Carrie Oliver who acted as gourmet guide). The piece also has this to say about what industrial scale has done to flavor of American chicken:All of these birds were unlike any chicken I’d ever eaten. Or seen: the dark meat of each breed was brown like chocolate.
While these tastes were novel to me, my grandmother would have likely grown up eating something similar. Up until around the 1950s, farmers raised a variety of chicken breeds-mostly “dual-purpose birds” that produced both meat and eggs. Then breeders created an über-meat chicken called the White Rock that could reach a market weight of four and a half pounds in only eight weeks, the source of those giant breasts you now find in the meat cooler. It no longer made sense to raise the old varieties that took more than twice as long to fatten up and never grew as big. And so these older breeds faded away.
But what we gained in size and speed, we lost in flavor. The chefs who prepared the [heritage] chickens for the tasting said that the firm muscle tone, the bumpy skin, even the bones and the joints that were hard to pull apart, did not resemble a normal [commercial] chicken. And I could taste almost-forgotten flavors in each preparation, whether the meat was roasted, braised, or seared.
Here’s a breakdown of label claims you’ll see on eggs and chicken in your grocery store:
“Farm Fresh,” “healthy,” or “United Egg Producers Certified” - These claims basically mean “industrial produced eggs.” You’ll see these labels on the cheapest eggs in the store.
“United Egg Producer Certified” is an all voluntary, egg industry label. Price is the ultimate concern for industry certification systems like this one, so guidelines are never going to be strict, let alone enforced (hence, it’s voluntary).
“Vegetarian Feed,” “All Natural,” “Omega-3 enhanced” - These labels mostly address feed. All-natural is a very dicey label that can mean a lot or very little, depending on the business employing it. It can usually mean no synthetic hormones or antibiotics, but if you’re grocer can’t give you any more specific info about what the farm means by “All-Natural,” assume it means nothing.
“Cage-free” - As you can see from the above piece, cage-free means no battery-cages that have a floor the size of a piece of paper. But it can also mean 80,000+ birds in an operation. So it may not mean free movement or access to outdoors.
“Free-range” – Chickens must have “access” to the outside but there is no requirement that they actually go outside. (You see this label frequently on eggs and chicken meat in the Upper Midwest where requiring birds to go outside can be potentially life-threatening in mid-winter.)
Free-Roam; Pastured; Pasture-raised – These birds actually go outside, their diet is from feed and hunting and pecking, and it’s usually what people picture when they hear “free range” or “cage free.” Very few operations actually manage farms this way, and there is no certification system in place to verify claims, so ask lot sof questions of oyur grocery staff and purchase at your own risk.
“Certified Organic” - Vegetarian, USDA certified organic diet with strict cleaning protocols in all aspects of the farm and processing operation. Cage-fre, (unless this has changed recently?) and/or “free range” (see above). No synthetic hormones or antibiotics.
“Certified Humane” - Certified by Humane Farm Animal Care. No debeaking and no cages; a diet of “quality feed’ (?). No synthetic hormones or antibiotics in feed. American Meat Institute Standards for slaughter (here’s an interpretation of those standards by widely respected livestock authority Dr. Temple Grandin).