Not So Happy Hens

Abstract

An international company has been promoting itself as producing happy eggs. The commercials offer pictures of hens living in idyllic conditions—free to roam in wide grass lands replete with sunshine and trees in which to shelter. Intrigued by these commercials, one of us wrote to the company concerned and inquired whether the millions of male chicks were similarly cared for. The response was that male chicks (surplus to requirements) were killed “using a pain free gas when they are 1 day old” (personal communication, 2016). When we inquired what happened to hens at the end of their apparent breeding life, we were informed that “when our girls no longer produce eggs we can sell to the supermarkets they are taken to our facility where they are exposed to a nonaversive gas to put them to sleep” (personal communication, 2016).Leaving aside whether it is morally licit to raise hens for their eggs, it is clear then that the current system of commercial egg production (at least in this case) is predicated on the slaughter of millions of hens and their male counterparts.This should give every ethical consumer pause for thought.Some animal-friendly agencies now ask animal advocates to keep and care for caged hens when farmers judge they are surplus to requirements at the end of their breeding life (British Hen Welfare Trust, 2021; Fresh Start for Hens, n.d.). Many animal advocates out of compassion have now taken up this opportunity to give hens a new life and, as a result, sometimes eat the eggs they may produce (hens do not require a male to make eggs). Looking after ex-battery hens in these circumstances does not invite moral censure.But it should be clear that commercial egg production, such as described above, is vexing because it is not only the welfare of hens that is morally important, but also their individual lives. Suffering (and apparent well-being) is not the only legitimate moral concern. Animals matter as individuals, and causing death needs serious moral justification.At the very least, businesses that exploit hens should make clear through advertisements and labeling not only the conditions in which their hens are kept, but also the manner and number of deaths that the system itself requires.