
By Mike Barnett
Cage-free eggs. Sounds good. But is it really better for the chickens that lay them?
Maybe if you believe in live free and die hard.
Cage-free eggs are the new rage. Driven by consumer perception that cage-free chickens are happier and healthier, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Costco and, most recently, Panera Bread will require suppliers to go cage-free over the next decade.
That leaves the egg industry—worth $10 billion a year—struggling to figure out how to shift from confined hen laying to cage-free.
It’s not as simple as turning chickens loose. Cage-free doesn’t mean problem-free.
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