the life of the egg-laying chicken - spca

Ba

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4

It turns out, like our cats and dogs, hens have a wide range of emotional and social needs.

The behaviour of hensIn a natural setting, chickens explore and forage for food by scratching the ground. They spend about 70 percent of their day walking, scratching with their feet, stepping back and pecking at the ground in search of food. As well as finding food, the exercise keeps them fit and healthy.

Hens like to live in groups – flocks of about 1,000 other chickens. Within this flock, smaller sub-groups of birds form. Each has its own “pecking order” or social grouping. Similar to a whole school of kids made up of smaller groups of friends.

At night, hens like to perch up high to sleep – safe from predators. Their feet are designed to grip branches even when sleeping.

Chickens spend a lot of time grooming. They stretch their wings, flap and preen their feathers to keep them in order and water-proofed. They extract oil from a gland at the back of their tail and smooth the oil through their feathers.

To clean their feathers, hens dust-bathe in sandy soil. They roll and flick sand into their feathers. Oily dirt sticks to the sand and vigorous shaking removes the dirt and old oil. Then they reapply the oil.

A big event in a hen’s day is laying an egg. Hens lay about 320 eggs in a year – close to an egg a day. Before she lays an egg, the hen will search for a quiet, safe nesting place away from the larger group. A hen begins the hunt for a nest spot about an hour before she is due to lay her egg.

How hens are normally keptUnfortunately, for 95 percent of hens raised in Canada, hens don’t have the freedom to do any of the behaviours described above. They don’t live in flocks but in very small cages called battery cages. Hens are crowded together with four or five other hens not of their choosing. They live that way their entire lives – from one to three years.

Each hen has about the same space as the size of this magazine. They stand on a wire floor their entire lives. There is no soil to scratch. They cannot stretch or flap their wings, or even stand up straight without hitting the cage top.

Hens can’t dust-bathe, perch or find a quiet nest box to lay their eggs. They must lay their eggs on the wire cage floor. As a result hens suffer greatly from frustration every day.

Why are hens kept in cages?You might wonder why hens are kept this way if they

suffer such frustration. The battery cage system was introduced in the 1940s. Previously, birds were kept on barn floors but there were problems with diseases. Plus, it was hard to gather the eggs. The caged systems made it possible to provide automatic feeding, drinking and egg collection. Most importantly, manure fell through the wire onto moving belts. The manure could be continuously taken out of the barn, reducing the spread of disease.

Another advantage of the caged system was that you could also get a lot more birds (30,000 is common) in a barn. All of these factors lowered costs for the farmers and

resulted in less expensive eggs for you. But the cost to the hens is poor welfare.

Alternative egg laying systemsTo improve the welfare for the hens, a few farmers are switching back to cage-free barns. The best systems are

designed to ensure hens can perform the behaviours they want to do. This means hens can forage, dust-bathe, stretch their wings, perch and lay their eggs in nest boxes. Most importantly, hens have the space and freedom to move about and form the groups they want to be with.

Hens from SPCA Certified farms are inspected to make sure the birds are both healthy and happy. Eggs farmed in this way do cost a little more than caged eggs, but the hens have a much better quality of life.

SPCA Certified farms are cage-free.

Hens can explore, dust-bathe, perch and use nest boxes.

Hen dust-bathing.

Cage-free hen resting on a perch.

95% of hens are housed in battery cages.

Four to six birds per cage.

Hens stand on wire their entire lives.

Everyone knows eggs come from chickens. But what do you know about the hens who lay the eggs?

The life of the egg-laying chicken

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©BC SPCA 2018 ILLUSTRATED BY SCOT RITCHIE

The

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PICKING THE BEST EGGSDid you know that, with a brown egg, you can tell how stressed the hen was when she laid the egg just by looking at it?

The next time you’re at the grocery store with your parents, take a peek inside a carton of brown eggs. See if you can spot a hazy layer of calcium – a chalky-white film – on one or more of the eggs.

Hens prefer to lay their eggs in a quiet, secluded nest. They become agitated, frustrated and stressed when they can’t find one. Often this happens in barns that don’t have enough nest boxes for all the hens.

When a hen is kept from laying her egg, an extra layer of calcium starts to build on the egg’s surface while she waits. The longer she has to wait, the more extra calcium coats the egg.

SO MANY EGG CHOICES, SO LITTLE TIME!Grocery stores have lots of different types of eggs. Why so many? Eggs come from different farmers who

raise hens in different ways. Some are kept in cramped cages, while others have more room to move about.

Farm type: battery cages Farm type: cage free*

Hen welfare: poor– No nest boxes, little space to move, no area to scratch– Can’t stretch wings or dustbatheCost: $Egg colour: white (mostly)

Hen welfare: better– No cages, some space to move, usually nest boxes, can stretch wings– No independent inspections*Free-range eggs: hens can go outside (in nice weather) Free-run eggs: hens always live in a barnCost: $$Egg colour: brown (mostly)

Ba

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4

spcacertified.ca

PICKING THE BEST EGGSWhen buying eggs, pick a cage-free brand whose eggs are solid brown and have the least amount of calcium coating – or none at all. It means the hens were less stressed.

With white eggs, you can’t see if there is extra calcium. But it is a sure bet that it would be on most white-shelled eggs. This is because most hens who lay white eggs are kept in tiny cages and have no nest boxes (see below). These hens are frustrated every day because they have no place to lay their eggs but on the wire floor amongst other chickens.

Certified is bestSPCA Certified and Certified Organic eggs come from hens with the best welfare. Farms are independently inspected to strict rules about hen care and welfare needs. There are spaces to explore both inside and outside the barn, private nesting areas and perches up high to rest at night. These eggs cost the most but the hens have the best living conditions. These eggs are also typically brown.

Are brown eggs better?Not necessarily! The colour of an egg is determined by the breed of chicken. White eggs come from leghorn chickens who are usually raised in cages. Most cage-free eggs are brown. They come from different breeds such as Rhode Island reds, New Hampshires and Plymouth Rocks.

Farm type: SPCA Certified and Certified Organic

Hen welfare: best– Farms meet highest welfare standards– Independently inspected each year– No cages, lots of space to move, perches up high, nest boxes, can

stretch wings and dustbatheCost: $$$Egg colour: brown (mostly)

Ba

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12

34

5

HU

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E ver wonder how farm animals are treated? Animal welfare scientists created the “Five Freedoms” as a tool to measure how well farmers are meeting their animals’

needs. The BC SPCA expects all farm animals to be provided the Five Freedoms – unfortunately, not all receive them.

The basics of food and water are covered by Freedom 1. For example, out on the range, cattle need fresh, clean water and good quality grass to eat.

All animals feel pain if they are injured, sick or we do things to them that hurt. When dairy cows have their horns removed, for example, pain medication helps it hurt less. That’s Freedom 2 – minimizing pain.

Freedom from distress is Freedom 3. Being tied to your bed your whole life would be distressing, right? Yet that’s what mother pigs (sows) experience. They’re confined to a small cage (called a gestation stall) almost their whole lives.

Imagine having to sleep on cold, hard concrete. This is the life of most pigs. If farmers added wood shavings as bedding, they would meet Freedom 4 – freedom from discomfort.

Picture a dairy cow looking out onto a field of lush green grass yet never getting to leave the barn – ever! Imagine you’re a hen living in a cage with other chickens packed so tight you couldn’t stretch your wings – ever! Freedom 5 is all about having the freedom to do what comes naturally – like grazing on pasture or stretching wings.

To learn more about farm animal needs, play the Farm Animal Five Freedoms game on the next page.

MOOO…VING TOWARD THE FIVE FREEDOMS

1

2

4

3

5

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Fresh grass

Pain medication

Life in a stall

Bedding

No space Ba

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5

Rat Chat!Rat Chat!

As social mammals like people and dogs,rats have developed a complex way ofcommunicating to each other. See if youcan match up the behaviour or sound towhat the rat is trying to say:

1. Sniffing rear end or nose2. Pound front feet on another rat3. Tail Swishing4. Tail slapping5. Teeth grinding6. Whistle7. Nose stretched forward8. Standing upright and showing teeth9. Urine marking10. Standing on hind legs

a. A warning threatb. Start a fightc. Alarm cryd. Contentment, like a purring cat e. Curiosity and attentivenessf. Defensive stanceg. Identifying a new smellh. Identifying family member or greetingi. Invitation to playj. Way to identify/mark colony territory

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Getting to Know ChickensChickens are intelligent and social animals.

Check out some of their cool features:

Did You Know?

In many cases, you cantell the colour of the eggthat a hen will lay bylooking at her earlobe.If the lobe is brown, shewill lay brown eggs, if itis white, she’ll producea white egg.

Why the scaly feetand legs? Theredoesn’t seem to be afunction for scaleson chicken legs andfeet. Scientifictheories suggest thatbirds (and humans)evolved from reptilesand this is probablya residual reptiliantrait. The scales dohelp protect thechickens’ feet whilescratching and digging for food.

Disc shaped earlobesare located on each sideof the head hidden bytiny feathers.

The comb and wattlesare fleshy parts on the

top of the head andunder the chin. Blood

circulates between thecomb and wattles and

helps to cool the chicken.

A chicken’s eyes are on theside of their head allowingthem to see more aroundthem, including predators.However, it means they can’tsee directly in front of them.To compensate, they bobtheir heads back and forth tosee what’s in front of themand how close the object isto them.

Domesticated chickens cannot fly great distanceseven though their bodies are well adapted to flight.

Their bones are hollow, plus they have 13 air sacsthroughout their bodies.

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CONTEST TIME! On a sheet of paper tell us: What two articles you liked most in this issue of Bark! What two articles youliked least in this issue of Bark! Tell us something new that you learned from reading this issue of Bark! Send your answers to: BC SPCA Kids Club – Contests, 1245 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC V5T 1R1 • Deadline: January 1, 2007 • PRIZE: We’ll draw three entries at random and winners will receive a signed copied of The Truth About Rats (and Dogs).

s

Chicken Word

Search BARBULECOMBCLUCK

DUST BATH

EXPLOREGULLET

NEST BOXPECK

PERCHROOST

SCRATCHWATTLE

Words can go across, up, down and in twodiagonals.

Chickens have a beakbut no teeth. Food passesthrough the gullet to their

digestive system.Chickens have a muscular

gizzard containing grit(sand particles) to grind

up food. Chickens like toeat small bugs, worms,

grasses and seeds.

C D B G P P K L H T

G K U Q X C Z C P S

G U C S U Z T J E O

N E L L T A L H C O

E L C L R B N K K R

S T C C E B A T R H

T T S X N T P T T C

B A R B U L E M H R

O W K E X P L O R E

X R C O M B K L P P

Yikes! Those claws are long!

Meal time, a hen squeezing her head out of her cage to feed & drink.

A line of eggs moving down the belt.

g

k

Hens in a SPCA Certified environment – exploring, scratchingand pecking the ground – all natural chicken behaviours.

Bath time keeps hens mite-free.

Chickens stand on wireflooring all their lives –from one to three years.There is no opportunity toscratch, explore or weardown their claws.

kk Artificial light sources are used tokeep chickens awake longer – keeping egg production high butdecreasing sleep and rest times.

k Hens are forced to lay eggs on thefloor of battery cages. Once laid, theegg rolls down the wire floor and aretaken away by a conveyor belt, rightin front of the hens.

CO

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Zzzz… settling down for bedtime orcozy nap.

k

Look for the Red

Barn label

If you are looking for farmanimal products wherethere are highwelfare standards, consider buyingSPCA Certifiedor BC CertifiedOrganic foodproducts. The

SPCA currentlyhas 20farmers in the program and youcan find eggs, chicken, beef andcheese – all with theSPCA Certified label.Some of the majorgrocery stores thatcarry SPCA Certified products include:

Capers, Choices, ThriftyFoods, Nature’s Fair andSave-On-Foods/Overwaitea. Tosee profiles ofthe farms in SPCACertified visitwww.spca.bc.ca/farm.

Batterycage, upon battery

cage, you can’t

even see the end of the line.

Five to sevenhens are

housed in onesingle cage for

their entire lives.Farmers are only

required to givethem 432cm2 (less

than one page ofBark! magazine) offloor space per bird.

g

No battery

cages allowed.

Chickens run free

in a barn or

outside and have

at least 1900cm2

of floor space

(just over three

pages of Bark!)

Walking up to the food and water buffet.

CO

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SPCA Certified

Farming Practices

A choice of nesting boxes.

conditions. This equals low costs to the farmer

and low market prices for the consumer. But in

the end, the welfare of the chickens is sacrificed.

The BC SPCA has developed standards that allow

for better conditions for farm animals. The

program is called SPCA Certified. This is a

comparison of conventional farm practices

(left) versus SPCA Certified (right).

j

There are limits on length of

periods of light and light intensity.

Perches must be provided. Chickens

naturally find a higher perching

place to rest or sleep. Perching also

keeps their legs strong.

k

There must be at

least one nesting

box (refuge to lay

eggs) for every

five birds on site.

This gives hens

the opportunity

to lay their eggs

in a quiet and

safe spot.

kEggstra!hYour Egg?

Who Laid

Eggstra!

Conventional Farming Practices

COURTESY VANCOUVER HUMANE SOCIETY

h

EEach year in BC, more than two million hens lay

636 million eggs. Try the math – that’s

approximately 275 eggs a year per hen. Ninety-

eight percent of these birds live on conventional

egg laying farms where groups of hens are

housed in cramped battery cages. But are

battery cages necessary for egg production?

Egg farmers like them because they allow

a large number (up to tens of thousands) of chick-

ens to produce eggs in efficient and orderly

Farmers must provide more space for

feeding and drinking to minimize conflict

when hens go to eat.

Chickens, like many animals, live in a

social hierarchy – or a pecking order. This

system determines things such as, which

chicken gets to eat first or who gets to

lay eggs or roost in the best spot.

Farmers and researchers are looking at

ways to improve the housing of chickens

to minimize aggression due to pecking

order.

There must be an area covered by

litter – usually sawdust. Dust

bathing areas must also be

provided. In natural surroundings,

chickens rid their bodies of

pesky mites that live at the base

of their feathers by dust bathing

– rolling in dirt or sawdust to

suffocate the parasites.

the life of the egg-laying chicken - spca

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