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Egg laying hens: Cage-free egg production includes barn, free-range and organic systems. The UK is the largest free-range egg producer in the Europe. [21] Free-range systems are the most popular of the non-cage alternatives, accounting for around 57% of all eggs, compared to 2% in barns and 2% organic. In free-range systems, hens are housed to ...
The benefits of free-range poultry farming for laying hens include opportunities for natural behaviours such as pecking, scratching, foraging and exercise outdoors. [18] Both intensive free-range poultry and "cage-free" farming with hens still being confined in close proximity due to high stocking densities have animal welfare concerns.
One study showed that 24.6 percent of hens from battery cages had recent keel fractures whereas hens in furnished cages, barn and free range had 3.6 percent, 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. However, hens from battery cages experienced fewer old breaks (17.7%) compared to hens in barn (69.1%), free-range (59.8%) and furnished cages (31 ...
According to ProPublica, the food safety system for poultry in the United States is "ill-equipped to protect consumers or rebuff industry influence." The U.S. poultry industry is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has been characterized as toothless and beholden to business interests.
While Consumer Reports rates American Humane Certified as “Good,” it notes that there are several important drawbacks and limitations to this certification. One major issue is the farms do not have to allow animals to express normal behaviors; some animals may be crated or caged (and Consumer Reports therefore lists swine and laying hen ...
A free range pastured chicken system. Pastured poultry also known as pasture-raised poultry or pasture raised eggs is a sustainable agriculture technique that calls for the raising of laying chickens, meat chickens (broilers), guinea fowl, and/or turkeys on pasture, as opposed to indoor confinement like in battery cage hens or in some cage-free and 'free range' setups with limited "access ...
The use of poultry feed can also be supplemented with food found through foraging. [9] In industrial agriculture, machinery is used to automate the feeding process, reducing the cost and increasing the scale of farming. For commercial poultry farming, feed serves as the largest cost of the operation. [2]
In the UK, free-range systems are the most popular of the non-cage alternatives, accounting for around 44% of all eggs in 2013, whereas barns and organic eggs together accounted for 5%. [6] In free-range systems, hens are housed to a standard similar to that of a barn or aviary.