kallebumkvist

In the uk we have the 'British Hen Welfare Trust' that tries to help farmers switch over to free range where possible and campains for battery hen welfare. They also buy the 'spent' laying hens and sell them on to the public (at only £4 each, and they continue to lay about 250 eggs a year for several years!)

Is there anything similar in the USA, or do the hens all just get disposed of? Also do the spent hens get used as meat or are they just thrown away?

Were all of the cages in the establishments you worked in the individual 1-bird-per-cage ones, or are there a variety?

I think that with realtively little modification huge improvements in welfare can be made. The conventional small cages are actually illegal in the uk now, instead we have what politicians like to call 'enriched cages'. Obviously I'd prefer it if we went fully free range, but these do seem much better if the farmer really does have to keep rearing with cages. They allow the birds to have some semblance of a social life/ pecking order, perches, a secluded corner to nest in and space to move around and stretch.

Were the establishments you worked in financially struggling, or sound?

Do you think most consumers are aware of the conditions? Do you think they care?

What would happen when a hen died in the battery farm, was there any way to notice/ remove the corpse or would it just stay there and rot until the hens were spent and the cages emptied?

Thanks for doing the AMA, it is really fascinating!