The price of eggs in the United States has increased dramatically since the start of a devastating avian flu outbreak last February. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, the average price per carton of Grade A large eggs passed the $3 mark for the first time ever in August 2022. By December, the average cost was $4.25, a 137% increase from the previous year. Since the outbreak began, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it has affected around 58 million birds in 47 states. The term “affected” here is a euphemism for “dead,” as it is customary to cull entire flocks which contain sick birds to prevent suffering and limit the spread of the virus. Incredibly, amidst the chaos, a Colorado law mandating minimum space requirements for chickens went into effect in January, and will prohibit the sale of non-cage-free eggs by 2025. Among the affluent and morally righteous, arguments in favor of such government planning tend to run something like this: the permanent and dramatic cost increase of a presently cheap but vital source of protein will barely be felt by the average American, while gains in animal welfare will be considerable. Unfortunately, both points are hopelessly, characteristically deluded.

Let’s talk about the “cage-free” hen.

First of all, chickens are violent animals even in the most idyllic settings. As a kid in rural East Texas, my family kept yard hens — never more than a dozen or so at a time — with a large coop for nesting and full run of the property. We raised chickens in the Platonic ideal of “cage-free,” the exact sort of pastoral environment egg marketing teams try to evoke. Still, on occasion, we would walk outside and find that, some time between the night and morning, the hens had encircled one of their flockmates and literally torn her apart.

These occurrences are much more common in commercial “cage-free” environments. Wayne Hsiung, an investigator for the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere witnessed hens eating each other alive in a Costco cage-free egg farm. The process by which hens cannibalize each other is horrific and the details are grisly. In the typical cannibalism scenario, after finding a vulnerable target, sororicidal hens target her cloaca — the soft, fleshy part of the chicken from which she lays eggs and produces excrement. The victim hen dies slowly, as her flockmates eviscerate her from the inside out. 

Meanwhile, deaths from excessive pecking and cannibalization (known in the industry as “pick out”) were two to 15 times more likely, respectively, in “cage-free” settings than in conventional, or “cage-raised” operations, according to a study by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply (CSES). The study compared the outcomes of two flocks of laying hens in three different facility types: conventional caged (which housed six hens per cage), enriched colony (a different type of cage system which utilizes larger cages with multiple levels, essentially mimicking the layout of a traditional indoor chicken coop) and aviary or cage-free — essentially ventilated warehouses where the chickens are free to roam around, perch and roost. The study found that hens raised in the cage-free environment had the highest mortality rate, nearly 12% in both flocks. Hens raised in enriched cages had mortality rates of 5.2% in one flock and 4.7% in the other, which was still slightly higher than the conventional cages, which had the lowest mortality rates, 4.8% and 4.2% respectively. A similar study in the UK also showed cage-free hens to have significantly higher mortality rates than their conventionally raised counterparts, although the difference was slightly less dramatic. 

One cause of the cage-free hen’s higher mortality rate is cannibalism, another is hygiene. In conventional operations, the hen’s waste falls though the cage onto a conveyor belt. But in cage-free aviaries, chickens spend their entire lives walking, laying, roosting and eating in the feces of thousands of other birds. Unsurprisingly, this results in higher rates of bacterial and parasitic infection. The premium paid for cage-free eggs is justified to consumers, and increasingly voters, as necessary to support more humane living conditions for hens, a small price to pay to absolve oneself of the horrors of factory farming. In reality, it is a way for producers to recoup the costs incurred by increased filth, disease, violence, and death in cage-free facilities, as well as the higher labor costs required to manage the chaos within them. And given the actual conditions in cage-free facilities — and the fact that mortality may be double that of caged operations because more chickens are getting sicker, and up to 15x more are getting cannibalized — is cage-free really the more humane option?

The higher rates of violence, disease and mortality in cage-free egg production are mostly ignored by defenders. In an article comparing cage-free and conventionally raised eggs, the Humane Society lists four criticisms which it admits apply to both types of egg production and ends with “So, while cage-free does not necessarily mean cruelty-free, cage-free hens generally have significantly better lives than those confined in battery cages. The ability to lay their eggs in nests, run and spread their wings are tangible benefits that shouldn't be underestimated.” While the conventional practice of raising hens in cages undoubtably has issues, the truth is, the Humane Society overestimates the benefits of cage-free.

How far can a chicken really run in a warehouse of 7,000 other chickens? How fast? Fast enough to outrun the flockmate trying to eat her alive? Is a hen that’s three times more likely than her caged counterpart to die on any given day better off because she has the privilege of laying her eggs in a feces covered nest?

Those who are willing to argue that such a hen is better off can pay extra for the privilege of entertaining these fantasies. The rest of us shouldn’t have to, especially those who can’t afford it. It is inexcusable to rob the poor and working class of a cheap staple, a protein — the most expensive macronutrient — just because good marketing has assuaged a moral quandary for people with a lot of time, money, and education. The professional class has made the state a slave to its neuroses, which are always fleeting. They’re no longer content to strip us of small luxuries like paper towels in public restrooms, or plastic straws. Their education and relative comfort give them the time and ability to contemplate the world and its problems, and they often come to the conclusion that they themselves are one of them. The elite are troubled by this problem, but excited to find so many solutions for sale, a robust market of things they can buy so they don’t have to feel like the problem anymore. But they’ll never buy enough to escape the feeling. I know why the caged yuppie sings. I just don’t care anymore.

Cage the chickens too.

-River Page