Factory Eggs

I wonder if hens get cabin fever?  Do they get tired of being 'cooped up?'  (Pardon the pun)  Do they just want to stretch their wings?  Like William Wallace in the movie, "Braveheart," do they ever want to scream, "FREEDOM!!!!?"

I bet they do if they are factory hens raised in a metallic shed all their lives in cages.  The other day Tricia and Benjamin were driving and ran across a popular (around here) egg producer's headquarters located in a neighboring state and they took a few pictures.  Isn't this a pastoral sight?  I think not.

For the record, I'm not a "tree-hugger."  I do consider myself a conservationist.  According to Genesis 1:26, I believe that God gave mankind dominion over the animals.  I believe that our "ruling over" animals comes with great responsibility.  We are to watch over them and protect them and treat them kindly.  I think that part of that means that we should try to keep them in their natural setting as much as possible.  That's what we try to do with our hens.  Most of the time they are out on the pasture, eating bugs and worms and grass.  They also hang out in the shade on hot days under the trees, taking dust baths.  The only time some of them are "indoors" is at night.  Some of them roost in a hen house.  Others roost on top of the woodpile, in a pecan tree, or random places.

I don't think that chickens were intended to live out their lives caged in barns like this.  Although from the exterior, the chicken egg factory looks clean and tidy, I know inside the poor birds spend all their lives under bright fluorescent bulbs and are packed into small steel cages, never to see green grass and blue skies.  To avoid pecking that undoubtedly happens when animals are crowded into cages, I've read that the hens are de-beaked.  Also, it must REALLY stink in there!

I like to think our happy hens appreciate that they are allowed to roam around outside.  They are treated well and give us healthy, delicious eggs in remuneration.