1. Prof Christine Parker (Law School, Monash University)
Organic and free range eggs vs industrial supermarket eggs: more than just an animal welfare issue
Unattributed photos are by Christine Parker.
Prof Christine Parker (Law School, Monash University)

2. Outline Caged hens: animal welfare issues
Beyond animal welfare: other impacts of industrial supermarket egg production
Health value of organic and free range eggs
Misleading labelling : Is it possible to buy healthy organic or free range eggs?

3. Caged hens: animal welfare issues
[Picture of Free Betty Campaign flyer from Animal Australia’s campaign website:
Caged hens: animal welfare issues

4. [Big Dutchman, 2013. Egg Production in Poultry Cages- In Full Colour
[Big Dutchman, Egg Production in Poultry Cages- In Full Colour! online at (accessed 7 August 2013)]

5. [RSPCA, Hens Deserve Better campaign website, online at (accessed 7 August 2013)]

6. [Picture of sick bird Animal Australia’s campaign website: http://www
[Watt, Yvette ‘Untitled.’ from the Animal Factories Series. Image courtesy of Yvette Watt, online at (accessed 7 August 2013)]

7. Beyond animal welfare: other impacts of industrial egg production
[Watt, Yvette. 2012from the Animal Factories Series. Image courtesy of Yvette Watt, online at (accessed 7 August 2013)]

8. [Picture of cage facility thick with faeces from Animal Australia’s campaign website:

9. Negative Health Consequences of Industrial Egg Farming
Public health impact:
manure dust and cesspools; infectious disease outbreaks; antibiotic resistance and growth of superbugs
broader system impacts – pesticides and fertilisers (for grain feed), carbon and refirgerants (transport & store eggs)
Individual health impact:
salmonella; anitbiotic resistance passes on from consuming eggs; less fresh = more risk

10. Negative Health Consequences of Industrial Egg Farming
Public health impact:
manure dust and cesspools; infectious disease outbreaks; antibiotic resistance and growth of superbugs
broader system impacts – pesticides and fertilisers (for grain feed), carbon and refirgerants (transport & store eggs)
Individual health impact:
salmonella; antibiotic resistance passes on from consuming eggs; less fresh = more risk

11. Health value of organic and free range eggs

16. Is it possible to buy healthy organic/free range eggs?

17. 20, 000 hens/ha
29% of free range egg production in Australia stock at densities higher than 2 hens per square metre on the range area. … The egg industry wishes to … draw a ‘line in the sand’ at a responsible and transparent maximum outdoor range density [of 20, 000/ha].
[Egg Corporation’s 2012 statement about why per hectre stocking density is reasonable – available at

19. Coles animal welfare initiative 2013

21. Competing standards

25. Choice
The most important thing is for consumers to have confidence they are getting what they pay for, and increasing numbers of Australians are paying a premium for eggs labelled free range.
Price of a dozen free range eggs in Melbourne:
[Quotation from
Coles & Woolworths
$ $6.99 (Family Homestead $8.89)
Farmers’ Markets
$ $9.50
Organic stores
$ $10.99

28. Summary: Supermarket Eggs
Big issue is industrial production method regardless of whether labelled cage, free range or organic
Certified organic (ACO or NASAA) eggs in the supermarket will generally be free range and show good hen welfare but often still industrial scale, so pesticides won’t be an issue but other health benefits (including nuitritional benefits flowing from what hen eats) won’t necessarily be present

29. Summary: Outside the Supermarket
Certified Humane Choice or Free Range Farmers Association will usually be from smaller scale farms so may be better
For health and taste: Look for freshest eggs and with hens that get a good portion of their diet from foraging plus sufficient safe handling
Find out from the farmer direct; possibly look for biodynamic accreditation (only at specialist organic stores); or grow your own.

30. What can we do? Keep advocating against battery cages
Support local small scale and direct production
Ask your local store to stock Humane Choice, organic or biodynamic accredited eggs
Ask questions at farmers markets, stores and cafes and check brand websites.
Expect good eggs to cost more and to have seasonal fluctuations

31. Ask a person selling eggs at a farmers’ market:
Are you the farmer?
What are the living conditions of the hens?
They have 24 hour access outside, OR outside in the day and inside at night.
They have space to roam around outside and housing for nesting and resting.
They have an area to dust bathe.
There are plants and insects for them to forage on.
They have access to shaded areas to escape hot sun and make them feel safe.
There are maremma dogs and fences to keep them safe from foxes.

32. How much space do the hens have. How is the land and vegetation kept
How much space do the hens have? How is the land and vegetation kept? How often are the hens rotated? Are other animals rotated onto the land?
What are their houses like? Are they moveable? How often are they moved?
Are the chicks bought from a breeder? Have they already been de-beaked when bought? Are the hens ever de-beaked?
What are the hens fed? Where does the feed come from? Does it contain meat or other animal byproducts, colourants?
What kind of farm do the hens live on? Does it solely focus on egg production?

33. If you want to look deeper…
- A blog with information about lots of small alternative egg farms in Victoria
- A searchable website to find cafes and restaurants that serve free range eggs
- List of Humane Choice accredited farms
- Bio-dynamic accreditation
- The (US) National Museum of Animals & Society’s online exhibition, “Un-Cooped: Deconstructing the Domesticated Chicken” exploring the origins of and the cultural attitudes towards the chicken with lots of information about egg and poultry farming.

34. If you want to look deeper…
Cornucopia Institute, Scrambled Eggs report – expose of factory farming in the US egg industry. (excellent youtube summary of factory free range here)
Meet Real Free Range Eggs, Mother Earth News, October/November 2007 – good summary of evidence on nutritional value of free range eggs.
Water F. Wedin and Steven L. Faes (eds), Grassland: Quietness and strength for a new American agriculture
But see also Jeffrey Kluger, Organic eggs: more expensive but no healthier Time, 8 July 2010; and Emily Sohn, Free-range chickens may be less healthy, ABC Science.

35. See also:
Christine Parker, The truth about free range eggs is tough to crack
Christine Parker, Carly Brunswick and Jane Kotey,, “The happy hen on your supermarket shelf: What choice does industrial strength free range represent for consumers?” Bio Ethical Inquiry, (2),