CAGE-FREE

In most Global South countries where Sinergia Animal operates, up to 90% of the hundreds of millions of hens used in commercial egg production are kept in battery cages their entire lives.

This is considered one of the cruelest practices of animal agriculture as it completely hinders hens from carrying out their most basic behaviors and forces them to live miserable lives.

Because of this sheer cruelty, conventional battery cages have been banned in the European Union, Bhutan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and some US states.

Crammed cages

Each cage packs 5 to 10 animals together, with each hen having living space smaller than an A4 sheet of paper. They cannot walk freely, stretch completely, or flap their wings.

Lack of social life

Although they are social animals, they cannot socialize in healthy ways when confined so extremely.

Natural behavior deprivation

They cannot nest when they want to lay eggs, which may be the most important behavior denied to them.

Bone diseases

They develop impaired bones from the lack of movement.

Lack of hygiene

They can't dust bathe, which enables them to stay clean and healthy. Their excrement often accumulates on the barn floor. It's not unusual for hens that managed to escape the cages to be found stuck in their own manure, dead or struggling to survive.

Death

Many hens do not survive. Those that do are often forced to live amid the remains of their dead fellows.

A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE

The risk of salmonella contamination in cage environments is significantly higher than in cage-free farms.

The disease causes 155,000 deaths worldwide yearly, 85% of which are estimated to be foodborne, and up to 94.8 million cases of acute gastroenteritis.

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CAGE-FREE VS FREE-RANGE AND ORGANIC

Cage-free

In cage-free systems, hens live in sheds without access to outside areas. They do not have the opportunity to go out to the pasture to graze on the grass or the ground.

However, inside the sheds, they have access to enriched areas with nest boxes in which to lay eggs, areas with straw to graze, and perches to climb.

Free-range and organic

Hens have access to pastures where they can enjoy sunlight and spend time looking for food. The feed is often plant-based, and antibiotics are not routinely used.

The organic system goes beyond free-range: The animals' food must be organically produced without pesticides.

DOES CAGE-FREE

MEAN CRUELTY-FREE?

Cage-free systems have great potential to reduce animal suffering. However, in both cage-free and cage systems, male chicks are shredded alive after only a few hours of life because they don't lay eggs and, thus, are of no use to the industry.

Also, in poorly managed cage-free systems, animals can become stressed and begin to peck, which can result in outbreaks of feather plucking or even cannibalism. Further, in cage-free systems, hens are sent to the slaughterhouse when they no longer produce enough eggs.

These are just some of the reasons why we dream of and advocate for a world in which no animals are exploited for food in any way.

We know that no kind of animal exploitation is good, but since we cannot end the livestock industry overnight, we can at least fight for the animals to have more decent conditions while we advocate for a vegan world.

In cage-free production, animals can move and perform most of their natural behaviors, which significantly reduces their suffering. Going cage-free is feasible for companies in the short- and medium-term.