US: August 1, 2008


LOS ANGELES - What do hens want, and how do humans know?


That's the issue at the heart of a fierce battle looming in California between animal rights campaigners and egg producers over the welfare of caged hens that could crack the state's US$300 million egg production industry.

A November ballot measure seeking more space for calves raised for veal and breeding pigs could also make California the first US state to ban the housing in small wire cages of egg-laying hens.

If passed -- and support is currently running at 63 percent according to a July Field poll -- most of California's egg producers would be driven out of business, say opponents who have organized with the website www.safecaliforniafood.org.

Proposition 2 would give California's 20 million laying hens, most of which currently have less space than a 8-1/2 by 11 inch (210 by 297 mm) letter-sized piece of paper, room to spread their wings, lie down, stand up and turn around.

The measure would come into force in California -- which ranks 6th in US egg production -- in 2015, three years after a similar ban already agreed in the European Union..

"California voters recognize this is a modest reform and that all animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment," said Jennifer Fearing, campaign manager for Yes on Prop. 2 (www.YesonProp2.com).

"Californians have a long history of very progressive attitudes towards animals and have a commitment to outlawing animal cruelty where it exists," Fearing told Reuters.

In rural San Diego County, brothers Ryan and Alan Armstrong are proud of their 60 year-old family egg farm business and say it is in their best business interests to provide good conditions for their 500,000 hens.

"If the hens are uncomfortable, if they are too hot or too cold, or don't get enough water or don't like their feed, the first thing that gets hit is egg production," Ryan Armstrong told Reuters.

About 10 percent of the Armstrong hens are cage-free. In one vast breezy barn, 8,800 brown, loudly clucking hens roam under a 9,000 sq foot (836 sq meters) roof. But the brothers say relative freedom is not necessarily a good thing.

"People have the idea that cage-free is healthier but it's not. The hens sometimes lay eggs in the manure on the ground. Sometimes they eat it. If one is sick, it's impossible to catch and remove it. Another problem with so many hens living together is cannibalism," Ryan Armstrong said.


CAGE-FREE DEMAND

Demand in California for cage-free eggs, which normally carry about a one dollar premium per dozen, has leveled off in the past three years, according to the brothers.

"We had planned 12 cage-free buildings but we only put up six because demand is not there," Alan Armstrong said.

The brothers said their highest production came from the sort of conditions that most rile animal campaigners -- an air conditioned, computer-controlled barn housing 130,000 hens in cages of six each, stacked five high.

Manure is collected on trays under each wire cage, clean, white eggs roll onto conveyor belts, and sick or injured hens can be quickly identified and removed.

"The supporters of Prop. 2 are asking us to throw all that away so chickens can spread their wings but that doesn't make birds healthier. Sometimes what is better for a hen isn't always what you think it might be," Ryan Armstrong said.

He said the costs of extra equipment, labor and land needed to meet the Prop. 2 changes would "put our family out of business and all that will happen is that egg production will be driven out of California to Mexico, where standards are lower."

Animal rights groups say farms like the Armstrongs are the exception not the rule. An undercover investigation in May by the vegan campaign group Mercy for Animals of a large egg farm in Merced, northern California, showed video of rotting hen carcasses in cages with live hens and scrawny hens covered in excrement.

Fearing said the "Yes" campaign had vast grass-roots support from animal lovers across California. "People get it. We would never keep our pets in cages so small they couldn't turn around and farm animals don't deserve that misery either," she said.

Farmers says such sentiment is out of place in commercial food production. "People want to eat animals raised for food but they want them to be treated like pets. They are not pets to us, but their livelihood is in our best interests," Ryan Armstrong said. (Editing by Jackie Frank)


Story by Jill Serjeant


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE