B A R N  &  F R E E - R A N G E   E G G S

What are battery eggs?
What are barn eggs?
What are free-range eggs?
How can I tell which eggs are which?
How can I be sure the eggs I purchase are from hens that have been well treated and cared for?
How do the living conditions of battery hens affect their well-being?
Can I make a real difference?
What can I do?

Battery Hens

What are battery eggs?
Battery eggs are laid by hens which spend their whole laying life in metal cages which hold up to five birds. Within the cage, each bird has no more than the size of an A4 sheet of paper to herself.

She has no room to flap her wings or walk freely, no litter to dust-bathe or scratch in, and no privacy or comfort in which to lay her eggs. She stands or squats all day and night on a wire mesh floor which is sloped to allow the eggs to roll away into a collection system.

Over the year or so that she spends in the cage, her feathers will be damaged and rubbed off by the wires and the close proximity of the other birds, her feet will become deformed, and her legs and body structure will be weakened by lack of exercise.

Barn Hens

What are barn eggs?
Barn eggs are laid by hens which are free to move around indoors. They are able to walk and flap their wings. They have deep litter in which to scratch and dust-bathe. There are feed and water stations placed throughout the shed. Above the litter is a central raised platform where the hens roost at night. Above the platform are the nesting boxes where the hens can lay their eggs in comfort and privacy.    

What are free-range eggs?
Free-range eggs are laid by hens which are free during the day to range outdoors in paddocks, where they have plenty of room to forage, dust-bathe, stretch and flap their wings, and perform their natural behaviours. They have an indoor area in which to shelter, feed and roost at night, and nesting boxes in which to lay their eggs in private. They are kept in small flocks.    

How can I tell which eggs are which?
Don’t be fooled!

Not every carton emblazoned with words like “free ranging” or “barn raised” actually contains eggs that deserve these descriptions.

Free-range Hens

Furthermore, even if eggs really are free-range or barn eggs, they might be just a small part of the total output of a producer who also supplies the market with battery eggs.

One way of making sure the eggs you buy are produced in a consistently humane environment is to look for an “RNZSPCA Approved” logo on the carton.

To earn the right to carry our logo, an egg producer must meet our high welfare standards and accept thorough and regular auditing on behalf of New Zealand’s leading and most experienced animal welfare organisation.

How can I be sure the eggs I purchase are from hens that have been well treated and cared for?
Our logo will tell you for sure whether the eggs have been produced under a barn or free-range system. In either case, the logo will be your guarantee that the hens who laid the eggs are well treated and cared for throughout their lives.

How do the living conditions of battery hens affect their well-being?
Hens suffer enormous emotional and physical distress in battery cages. Their bones become weak and brittle, they lose much of their feathers and their claws become deformed from standing on a sloping, wire mesh floor. They cannot perch, dust-bathe, run and flap their wings, peck at the ground or make a nest, all of which are natural behaviours for a hen.    

Can I make a real difference?
Yes, you can!

By choosing free-range or barn eggs you will be joining a worldwide movement aimed at dragging food production into the twenty-first century.

Across the globe, consumers are voting with their wallets in favour of food produced without the needless suffering of birds and animals. Egg accreditation schemes similar to the Royal New Zealand SPCA’s scheme are thriving in Britain, continental Europe, Canada, the United States and Australia.

None of us can achieve much on our own. But, together, we can make a huge difference to the way our hens are treated!

What can I do?
You can send a message to battery egg producers in the language they understand, the language of money!

Instead of buying eggs produced under these cruel conditions, you can opt for RNZSPCA Approved barn or free-range eggs.

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