WWW.SAFE.ORG.

NZ SAFE’s FREEDOM FOR HENS CAMPAIGN

HER LIFE IN A CAGE...

Actor Emily Barclay says . . .

“We must give hens the freedom they
deserve. Please join me in supporting SAFE’s
campaign against battery cages.”

Will you condemn her to a life sentence by buying

caged eggs? Each New Zealander consumes on
average 200 eggs per year. Despite growing
opposition to battery hen farming, around 90 per
cent of these are still produced by caged hens.

While caged eggs are cheap the real price is paid

by the hens, who lead short miserable lives. Battery
hens are forced to live in small, overcrowded cages
inside dimly lit factory farms across New Zealand,
day in and day out.

By avoiding eggs from caged hens you prevent

further innocent chicks from being caged for life.

SAY NO TO CAGED EGGS

 “FARM FRESH” A battery hen is imprisoned for life inside a tiny cage. Her ‘living’ space
is less than the area of an A4 sheet of paper. This extreme confinement
denies a hen the ability to carry out most of her natural patterns of
behaviour. She can’t walk, stretch her wings, peck and scratch or dust
bathe. She is forced to stand on a sloping mesh floor, which causes
considerable discomfort and can lead to painful foot injuries.

The type of battery cage used in New Zealand will be banned in Europe by 2012.

HIDDEN CRUELTY Overcrowded conditions inside battery cages increase aggression,

which can result in excessive feather pecking and cannibalism. Instead
of providing more space, the poultry industry either cuts off the tip
of the hen’s beak or reduces light levels to virtual darkness inside the
sheds in an attempt to reduce aggression. The hen will also suffer
feather loss and skin damage due to constant rubbing against her
cage and cage mates.
An estimated 2.8 million hens are kept in battery cages in New Zealand.

FREE TO ROAM Selective breeding by the egg industry has manipulated the hen’s
natural laying cycle so that she now lays around 300 eggs per year,
approximately 280 more than her wild ancestors. This demand depletes
the hen’s calcium levels and this, combined with her inability to
exercise, can lead to osteoporosis, leg weakness and increased likelihood
of painful fractures. Battery hens are usually killed at 18 months of
age and processed into stock or pet food.
The typical lifespan of a wild free-ranging hen is 10-15 years.