Egg Land's Worst

by Anne Landman — June 21, 2010 - 1:06pm
Share/Save Share this

Rembrandt FarmsThe Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has filed a complaint (pdf) with the Federal Trade Commission to stop the country's largest egg producer, Rose Acre Farms -- makers of Eggland's Best eggs -- from making false and misleading statements in its marketing and advertising about how it treats chickens at the company's farms. On its Web site, posters and in media interviews, the company suggests that Rose Acre provides a "humane and friendly environment" for caged birds, that birds have plenty of space to "move around and socialize" with other chickens and that only chickens who are treated well will be "happy" enough to lay eggs. Rose Acre also claims that their chickens are "comfortable." In reality, according to HSUS, millions of hens are confined for their entire lives in barren wire cages stacked four and eight levels high. Cages are so densely packed that the birds cannot even spread their wings fully. In February and March 2010, HSUS conducted undercover investigations at several Rose Acre Farms locations and videotaped how the chickens are kept. Chickens lose limbs or endure broken bones from rough handling, some birds get trapped in the cage wire and become unable to reach food and water or get trampled to death, and some chickens die, with the carcasses left to rot in the cages for weeks or longer. Consumers have no way to verify producers' claims about how chickens are kept.

Main Source: 
AllGov.com, June 19, 2010

Comments

raising safe chickens

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 20, 2010 - 10:45am.

Not only is the factory farming of chickens inhumane to the chickens and wasteful, the chickens produced humanely taste better and provide better nutrition. How much fat do you need to remove from a factory produced chicken? A chicken who is allowed freedom of movement has relatively little fat. Factory raised meats are apt to be high in antibiotics, increasing the likelihood that those antibiotics will no longer work for you when you need them.

Treating Animals Decently

Submitted by Daisysima (not verified) on June 28, 2010 - 12:32pm.

I was shocked and sickened when I watched the video of how the chickens were being treated. I truly believe that regardless of the industry that you are in, you don't have to be cruel to get the job done. I am glad to know that there are organizations that exist that try to keep this kind of cruelty in check.

Huh? "They don't kill the birds?"

Submitted by Suasoria (not verified) on June 24, 2010 - 4:57pm.

Did the previous posters even read the highlights on the linked page? They DO kill the birds. I'm sorry, my mistake - they call it "depopulating," not killing. What do you think they do with the birds that are too sick and too worn-out to lay eggs anymore? Put them in pet carriers and fly them to a farm sanctuary??

Regarding why they're suing for false advertising, there isn't much to sue Rose Land *for.* The Humane Slaughter Act does not apply to chickens (or fish or rabbits or several other animal species humans want to eat). HSA applies to cows, pigs, and sheep only.

Chances are this factory farm is following industry guidelines for the use and treatment of chickens. What that means is that the law says it's okay to raise egg-laying hens in tiny cages in the dark, withhold food and water so they'll molt and lay more eggs, allow them to breathe in manure fumes and ammonia, keep live hens in the same cages as rotting corpses, etc. All of these conditions are okay with the industry and the government - but not usually with the public. It's why CA voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 2 in 2008, so these intense confinement systems can be abolished.

So if they cannot be sued for the conditions, at least they can be sued for violating the public trust.

Food Source

Submitted by firebrand (not verified) on August 20, 2010 - 7:36am.

Those who are critical of each and every method of producing protein in our diets are the same nuts that in a true food shortage would demand their share of what they didn't produce or found fault.Then they would beg the federal government to give them something anything and everythiing.
Same old Commie crap from the same whiners who produce nothing.
Not even the veggies they endorse Oh wait a second the veggies feel pain.
We used to keep these nuts locked up sounds like a great idea today,
Wait until November.How is that Hopey,Changey thing working for you?
The rest of us are busting our A** to pay the taxes and stay in business.
Commie Nut.

A little intense, but it is

Submitted by Veggie- lover (not verified) on January 18, 2012 - 9:40am.

A little intense, but it is true that folks who want to be nice to chickens often assuage their consciences over their own personal shortcomings by being overly sensitive to the needs of an animal that is primarily programmed to eat and reproduce. Ever see a poor little hen, when a rooster is "in the mood" and she isn't? (I raised chicken at home for fun, eggs and personal enlightenment) Let the warm-fuzzy folks think about hen rape. (OF COURSE I'M KIDDING !) Many of these folks have no qualms about people hacking up human babies, without anesthesia, before they're born . Many are loath to work for anyone except a government entity, or a large, organized and regulated company, because they want to live in comfy cages with a livelihood guaranteed, by someone else, in exchange for production of some sort. Not so bad. Oops, is that humane? Let 's all just roam the wilds and fend for ourselves for a few months and see if that is what we prefer.

Why do we pay a lot of attention to species that often get eaten alive, by predators in the wild, having to find their own food, often starving and freezing in the process, at nature's whim? I actually prefer a predominantly vegan regimen because I think it might be healthier, but not for feely-good animal loving reasons? Love all animals, especially your fellow humans, young, old and in-between. Buy what you like to eat, and let others do the same.

Food Source

Submitted by Grows my own (not verified) on March 19, 2011 - 11:26am.

I don't think that the people who have a problem with the way Rose Acres raises and treats their animals have a problem with "each and every method of producing protein". What is being pointed out here is actually pretty specific. The birds are being kept in filthy, cramped cages, but are being promoted as free rage, happy animals. Its false advertisement and its wrong to treat these chickens this way.
While I can't speak for everyone here, I can speak for myself and the many small farmers I know, and in a true food shortage, my friends and I would be quite well off. I raise my own animals and grow my own vegetables, year round. I save seeds. I make my own cheese and butter. I've learned how to butcher my own meat. The people that tend to take issue with these CAFOs, usually already raise their own food or find local farmers who's ideas and methods of treating animals and food are more in line with their own.
I really don't see what ANY of this has to do with communism.
When people have concern for how animals, which are a food source for the masses, are treated, they aren't only concerned for the animals. They are also concerned for the complete strangers who then eat this meat. Do you really want to eat something that has lived most of its life sitting in a pile of its and its neighbors feces? These animals live in conditions that would normally kill it, so they are fed all kinds of antibiotics and hormones. I don't want to eat that crap, and I don't. And I think it would be nice to know that other people aren't eating it either. I bet the people that own these companies don't eat their own product.
I bust my butt every day, and I believe I am quite productive. I keep myself and my family well fed. I share with my neighbors. I pay taxes. This hopey changey thing is working nicely for me. You seem like you may have some anger or aggression issues, firebrand. Could it possibly be all that garbage you're eating?

Outrage

Submitted by Jules S (not verified) on June 23, 2010 - 8:17am.

I think this is outrageous, and the motivation to this cruelty …money and even more of it. I have heard that even the broilers who are used for the meat live in these situations. It takes a normal chicken 6 months to reach maturity, but in the commercial farms they only take 6 weeks and they are ready to be slaughtered. They grow so fast because of all the hormones found in their food, not to mention that dead chickens and the waste are minced up and used in their food. This is awful.

Then again will there really be an end to this, if they mistreat the chickens in such a way what else is happening on this planet we don’t even know about. Perhaps we should remember: Evil prevails if good men do nothing.

Perhaps it is time we return to the basics and eat good healthy organic foods.

When you look at the

Submitted by byoung1977 (not verified) on June 22, 2010 - 1:18pm.

When you look at the different points in this story one can argue either for or against what is happening. You can say yes that the chickens are being treated badly or you could also say who cares because its a source of food.

It makes me wonder though what people are thinking they would rather sue them for false advertisement rather than for the way the birds are being treated. In the end who really cares what the advertisement says. Most people in the real world know that a majority if not all advertisement is not truthful if it was the products would never sell.

human society

Submitted by turbo10 (not verified) on June 22, 2010 - 8:16am.

As usual. Those with too much money work hard to pester those who are trying to make some money. False advertising? Unreal. There have got to be a million other useful things the human society could be doing besides pestering a company who doesn't actually kill the birds.

You are wrong

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 5, 2010 - 9:46pm.

They actually DO kill the hens. After a year, they are no longer able to lay eggs for a while. These hens are also left to die from disease and malnutrition or dehydration.

No, I'm not a vegetarian. I eat meat and eggs. I don't want animal cruelty to happen to get it though (and I don't believe killing animals for food is cruelty). People who treat animals like these people have should not be in this business anyway. Anything for money, right?