Cage-Free Claims of Better Welfare and Better Quality Eggs is to be in Denial of the Facts

The press release from the National Association of Egg Farmers sent over the PR Newswire had close to 600 “hits” from media sources that printed it entirely or search engines picking up key words and phrases on chickens and eggs. The case was made in the press release for people to continue to buy their eggs from modern egg production practices. Research shows that cage-free layers have a higher mortality, more broken breast bones from collisions with perches, and more external parasites particularly red mites. It is also delusional to ignore the report from The US Animal Health Association October 17, 2017 which stated: “Ascarids (round worms) are increasingly being found in cage-free operations with the concern being the possibility of a consumer finding an egg with a roundworm contained inside. Most all cage-free egg producers have had such an occurrence. Modern Egg farmers, using cages, know how to produce safe, quality eggs while caring for their chickens.  Don’t take that knowledge away by removing consumers’ choices and forcing only cage-free eggs in your state. Some states have already fallen for the false narrative claiming cage-free is better. But there’s more. Note the CDC warning that came out July 23, 2018.

1.     CDC Posts Warning July 23 of Human Health Concerns with Backyard Poultry

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/backyard-flocks-06-18/index.html

CDC is investigating several multi-state outbreaks of Salmonella infections linked to contact with live poultry in backyard flocks. These are cage-free poultry. As of July 13, 2018, 212 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella have been reported from 44 states.

o                 Illnesses started from February 15, 2018 to June 21, 2018.

o                 34 ill people have been hospitalized, and fortunately no deaths.

o                 26% of ill people are children younger than 5 years.

Epidemiologic, traceback, and laboratory findings link these outbreaks to contact with live poultry (cage-free) coming from multiple hatcheries.

o                 In interviews, 100 out of 138 (72%) ill people reported contact with chicks or ducklings in the week before their illness started.

o                 People reported obtaining chicks and ducklings from several sources, including feed supply stores, websites, hatcheries, and from relatives. In short, leave egg production to farmers, the professionals, who know how to produce a safe and wholesome egg.

2.     Veterinarians Address Management Problems in Egg Production

29 veterinarians who are members of the AVEP (Association of Veterinarians in Egg Production), completed a survey recently on 56 egg layer diseases and management issues today. Of the total of 29 veterinarians, 11 are employed by egg productions companies, 7 are working for primary breeder companies, and 11 consult with major egg production companies. Look at the management issues of concern today (see below). A rating greater than 2.0 means more research is needed as this issue is problematic.  The top 3 management issues as noted by veterinarians dealing with poultry come from cage-free layers. 

Top 4 Ranking: Management Issues

1 - Piling (rating 2.64)

·                    This issue in cage-free operations continues as a major cause of concern and mortality. It leads to suffocation of the birds on the bottom of the pile.

2 - Floor eggs (rating 2.45)

·                    This is another behavior issue with little controlled research done of the proper training of pullets and other preventative measures. This is a major upcoming food safety issue as well as an economic and labor issue because the eggs come into contact with poultry feces on the ground.

3– Cannibalism (rating 2.45 which is a tie with floor eggs)

·                    A continuing major issue in some strains of layers. Chickens peck each other to determine dominance. The more the number of chickens, the more the amount of pecking. Cages limits this to just a few chickens.

4 – Hysteria (1.91)

Chickens are flighty and easily upset. Today's modern egg farmer who uses cages knows how best to keep the hysteria under control.

What is common among the top 3 management issues listed above? Cage-free egg production is the common denominator.

Many are pushing back against the National Association of Egg Farmers for speaking out. But if they don’t speak out, who will?