Isn't she lovely? This grand dame goes by the name of Inara and she's an 9-years-old Black Rock hen. She has a privileged life, with her two Calder Ranger "sisters" and her bantam/black rock cross "little sister", living free-range in my garden. There is lots of room for the girls to scratch for bugs, eat grass, harass the cats and generally enjoy life. But many of her kind are not so lucky.
We have always tended to think of hens as basically stupid birds, fit for nothing but laying lots of eggs or being eaten. But animal behaviourists now know that hens are actually smarter than cats and dogs. Think of it: your favourite pet, having to live in a tiny cage that does not allow her to walk around. To have to fight for every scrap of food and water, and to be continually pecked until they bleed by other animals out of boredom and fear. It's not a pleasant thought. Yet that is life, such as it is, for many hens. And after 14 months of this miserable existance, they are no longer able to lay one egg absolutely every day. So they are slaughtered, ironically, for pet food.
Happily Britain, and the countries in the European Union, banned the use of these tiny cages. The ban came into effect this year, and now intensive egg farmers have to provide cages which are big enough to allow hens to sit and scratch and stand up. They have individual food and water containers and their welfare is more carefully monitored. In fact, public opinion has made most supermarkets in the UK sell only eggs that have come from free-range farms. Where hens spend their 14 months in fields or large well-lit barns, where they can make friends (and hens do have friends) and live full, happy lives. Though sadly, at the end of 14 months, they also have to be slaughtered. Though many free-range farms try to sell as many hens as they can to the public, as pets.
So, I urge you to please, only buy eggs and meat labelled free-range (or in the UK, RSPCA approved). The cost may be a little higher, but at least you can be sure that you are not supporting cruelty and suffering. It is not neccessary to become vegetarian if you don't want to: I still happyly eat chicken while my own hens are clucking in the garden. So long as I only buy free-range meat, I feel that I can still look my girls in the eyes and not feel guilty. If battery cages have not been banned in your country/state, then please, lobby your local government representative. Make them see that we as human beings, will not tolerate the needless suffering of reasonably intelligent creatures. And thank you for reading this.
