Its a great name for an egg product - Happy Hens. Makes me think of smiling and content chickens. But are they really happy living in confined cages with no natural light? Make no mistake - Happy Hens is just a name. They aren't free range. They are no more than battery cage eggs with a snappy and friendly name.
Yesterday's post about the appalling treatment of caged hens in Australia highlighted what occurs at the operations of Pace Farms. Pace Farms are truly the experts of spin and marketing to sell a product produced through cruelty. But Happy Hens must be a close second for the defence of such a barbaric practice.
Happy Hens Egg Farms are a Victorian run operation. They have pride of place at Woolworths and Safeway supermarkets. While the Woolworths company has come a long way in promoting Free Range, they still are quite content to stock the cage egg variety at an obviously cheaper price to the humanely produced eggs. A buck is still a buck to them. Its a stark contrast to some supermarkets in the UK who no longer stock cage eggs.
In fact, the UK will soon ban the production of battery hen eggs moving to a slightly more humane treatment of the barn laid variety. Many other countries have done the same. Australia is yet to make any real moves to provide for the welfare of chooks.
But back to Happy Hens. Apparently the Happy Hens crew think that God is in favour of cage eggs. Doesn't say that on the package, but hey, who better than the almighty to endorse your product? This from their Facebook page.
"whether you believe in God or not, he is, and he condones that animals including chickens should be confined. All God's rules are in his book called the bible. Maybe people (which includes everyone) should use it as reference it really would solve lots of the worlds problems .......don't you think!!!........we DO!"
Happy Hens also claim that "There is no evidence to suggest that the well being of hens suffers in well-maintained cage systems." Really? How about this photo from their Facebook site? Are these happy hens? Take note of the cramped conditions, limited light and feather loss.
The worst thing about the Happy Hens company is that they are great defenders of the practice of intensive farming. They believe that they "...care for the welfare of our chickens" and cite apparent scientific evidence to assert that "cages systems provide many welfare benefits to hens...". They also claim that the method of Free Range farming is backward. Their words, not mine.
The only good thing that can be said for Happy Hens is that they claim they dont de beak. But that's about it.
This video, while not from the Happy Hens company is what really occurs in a Battery Hens cage egg farm. Its not just Indonesia that treats animals poorly. We do it in our own backyard thank you very much.
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