Vote “No” for Question 3 For the Sake of Chickens and Food Safety
Question No. 3 is intentional misleading to Massachusetts voters. It suggests better welfare will result for animals if voters approve. The opposite is true for chickens. Consider the research commissioned by several companies including those switching to cage-free. They have disregarded the very study they helped pay for in determining which method was best for the chicken. Ask yourself why did they do this? Here’s the results of the research conducted by The Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply:
1.More chickens died in a cage-free system (11.5 percent), due to aggressive pecking and cannibalism. It was 4.7 percent in conventional cages.
2 Cage-free production are 36 percent higher in cost than the eggs from cages.
3 The cage-free system had dust levels 8-10 times higher than other systems leading to impaired health for the chicken.
4 The cage-free system resulted in high worker exposure to endotoxin dust particles and reduced lung function by the end of a shift.
5 The cage-free system also presented ergonomic challenges; hens laying in litter resulted in a lot of crawling around for employees and potential respiratory and infection hazards.
6 Keel bone (breast bone) breakage was highest in the cage-free system.
The research shows cage-free is not the optimum choice. Common sense tells us that eggs laid on the ground for cage-free chickens where manure is also located have an increased likelihood of bacterial contamination. For those clinging to Question 3 as if it will improve farm products, consider this scientific study:
The Journal Poultry Science in 2011 [90, pp. 1586-1593] published “Comparison of shell bacteria from unwashed and washed table eggs harvested from caged laying hens and cage-free floor-housed laying hens.” This study found that the numbers of bacteria on eggs was lower in housing systems that separated hens from manure and shavings. Conventional cages allow the feces to drop through the screen floor whereas in cage-free systems, the eggs are laid in the same general area for manure. The potential for contamination is increased.
When considering all the facts including chicken health, food safety, and the farm worker I’m happy that today’s modern egg farmer has learned to produce a safe, wholesome egg in a modern cage system. Don’t let Massachusetts revert to the old fashioned way of raising chickens. Vote “No” for Question 3.
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Ken Klippen
National Association of Egg Farmers
Offices in Philadelphia and Washington, DC
www.eggfarmers.org
Mobile Tel: 484-744-3851
Email: [email protected]
