Colorado producers must begin phasing in cage-free hens by January 1, with a 100 percent goal by 2025
By Emily Kemme
By the end of this year, Colorado egg producers will begin phasing in a transition to cage-free facilities for hens. By January 1, 2025, all eggs produced and sold in the state must be cage-free.
Why? The state legislature passed HB20-1343 in 2020 which aims “to advance animal welfare by requiring Colorado’s egg-laying hens to be housed in a cage free environment. The act also prohibits business owners from selling or transporting for sale in Colorado egg products that are not from a cage-free farm,” according to a Colorado Department of Agriculture news release.
The CDA enacted rules establishing inspection and certification processes to confirm that farms are cage-free. Farms with 3,000 or less egg-laying hens are excepted from the requirements, as are businesses that don’t meet volumes set out in the CDA rules on hen confinement.
A growing animal husbandry movement
Since about 2013, consumers concerned about food ethics have driven the cage-free movement. Restaurants, grocery stores and corporations have come in to support it, according to trade magazine, Today’s Dietician.
McDonald’s, Burger King, IHOP, Subway, Denny’s, Wendy’s, Starbucks and the manufacturer of Hellman’s Mayonnaise are among the corporations buoying the change in how factory hens are housed. Kroger committed to having 100% cage-free eggs in its stores by 2025.
Colorado Egg Producers Association consists of seven family owned and operated farms, three of which are in Weld County: Opal Foods in Roggen, Morning Fresh Farms in Platteville and Sparboe Farms in Hudson.
Interest in the cage-free movement goes beyond Colorado’s borders as housing hens in conventional cages is decreasing nationwide. By the end of 2020, United Egg Producers recorded 28% of hens in cage-free environments. That figure is projected to rise to approximately 66% by 2026.
The price of eggs has risen approximately 40%-50% year over year. It remains to be seen how the transition to full cage-free production will affect consumer egg prices. Photo Emily Kemme.
In addition to Colorado, eight other states currently have cage-free standards, including California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington.
In states without cage-free standards, hens are housed in battery cages with each hen allotted around 67 square inches of space — about the size of a mouse pad — not enough space for hens to spread their wings.
Large egg producers can house thousands of birds stacked in cages on top of each other. Hens lay eggs onto a conveyor belt which transports the eggs outside the barn for collection.
“In addition to the stress of constant confinement, caging also can cause hens to suffer broken legs, toes, wings, and other body parts that can become tangled in the cage wire,” Today’s Dietician writes.
Changing to a cage-free environment “may be the greatest reduction of animal suffering in U.S. history,” said Josh Balk, vice president of Farm Animal Protection at the Humane Society of the United States on the HSUS website. It “represents about 100 million animals who otherwise would be in a cage and instead now have a much better life.”
Changing hen housing environments
The CDA rules require that as of January 1, 2023, Colorado producers can no longer house hens in enclosures smaller than one square foot (144 square inches) of floor space.
On or after January 1, 2025, in addition to the square foot allotment, producers must have installed “a cage-free housing system that provides egg-laying hens with unfettered access to vertical space, such as a multi-tiered aviary,” the rules state.
Julie Mizak, Egg Program Manager at the CDA said in the release, “By including enrichments such as scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust bathing, cage-free housing allows hens to exhibit their natural behaviors.”
What’s the difference?
Nutritionally, there is no difference between eggs produced by either method and government regulation of food safety and quality doesn’t change based on housing.
But there are differences in what hens experience.
There are pros and cons when housing hens in caged or cage-free environments, according to Best Food Facts.
Caged hens have constant access to food and water, are at lower risk of infectious disease that can spread through other birds, such as the current Weld County outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The National Poultry Improvement Plan program at Colorado State University’s primary objective “is to use new diagnostic technologies to effectively improve poultry and poultry products throughout the United States,” according to its website.
According to the avian health team lead, they are neutral on the new regulations about cage-free housing and had no comment.
Caging also doesn’t require litter, which can have increased levels of ammonia, dust and bacteria. However, their natural behaviors are restricted, they can’t nest or roost and the birds can’t exercise.
Cage-free hens are provided a nesting box which is often where feed and water are located. They have greater ability to move around, which conversely may increase bone breakage because the birds are still in cages. As they move about, birds may encounter diseases in droppings or litter strewn on the floor, and cannibalism and pecking (of other birds) is increased.
New rule could result in higher prices
Eggs are very versatile and only contain one ingredient: eggs. Photo by Emily Kemme.
Because of the cost required to install cage-free housing and the increased labor costs associated with the changes, producers must hire more employees to manually collect the eggs. Cage-free eggs are more expensive than conventionally housed hen eggs.
“Eggs have risen in price approximately 40%-50% year over year,” Olga Robak, CDA Director of Communications and Public Awareness said in an email.
For the month of August, the average price for a dozen eggs was about $2.94 per dozen, according to a report by Forbes – nearly double the 2021 average.
Eggs have long been considered a low-cost, high-quality protein choice. CEP notes, “Unlike most cereals and yogurt, eggs only contain one ingredient — ‘eggs.’ They don’t contain sugar or carbs either.”
For the moment, what the change in housing requirements will do to public demand for one of the most versatile foods on the planet remains as unsolvable as the question of whether it was the chicken — or the egg — that came first.