Abstract
The laying hen farming system prevalent in Portugal keeps the birds locked up in industrial cages. This prevents the birds from exercising natural behaviors that are essential for maintaining their physical and emotional well-being. The alternative is to use cage-free rearing systems for laying hens. Brazil has no legislation guaranteeing the welfare of the birds, so the switch to cage-free rearing depends on pressure from the consumer market. Companies that comply with minimum animal welfare rules and produce eggs with cage-free birds can obtain the CAGE FREE label, controlled by the non-profit organization Certified Humane Brasil. The aim of this work was to assess egg consumers' prior knowledge of the egg production system prevalent in Brazil, carry out a face-to-face awareness campaign in markets and pet shops and, finally, carry out a survey to find out whether consumers care about the quality of life of laying hens and whether they are willing to buy eggs from cage-free hens. Ninety-six people took part in the study and it was possible to see that only 46.95% of those interviewed were aware of the production system prevalent in Brazil, as well as that 84.4% of those interviewed said they would pay more for eggs from free-range hens, which shows that the welfare of hens is important to Brazilian consumers.
Published Version
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