“Every egg-laying chicken in Sweden is now cage-free thanks to a multi-decade persuasion campaign—no legal ban on cages required,” reports The Doomslayer. Swedish consumers are willing to pay a bit more for cage-free eggs.
Usually, it takes a law banning cages to make egg producers stop using cages. When cages are eliminated, chickens kill each other until a clear pecking order is established. That results in big short-term losses for egg producers. Cage-free chickens also tend to produce fewer eggs and require new infrastructure.
On June 17, Sweden celebrated a historic milestone.
‘After decades of determined work, there are no longer any hens kept in cages in Sweden,’ Project 1882, a global animal justice league, said in a press statement. ‘Sweden is also the only country in the world that has become cage-free without a legal ban.’ …
Benny Andersson — the CEO of Project 1882 — said that this latest milestone is a victory that comes at the heels of grassroots activism and public pressure from consumers, not government legislation.
‘Since the 1980s, more than 85 companies, from retail to foodservice, have taken a stand against cage eggs following our discussions,’ Andersson told Food Ingredients First.
In other places like California, egg-laying chickens only became cage-free after laws were passed banning the caging of egg-laying hens. “Several states have banned the caging of egg-laying hens,” explains Google AI. “California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have laws in place that prohibit the sale of eggs from caged hens.”
Such laws impose costs on egg producers because of uncaged chickens killing each other. As Google AI explains,
free-range chickens can sometimes kill each other, primarily due to the establishment and maintenance of the pecking order, which involves aggression and pecking among flock members. This can escalate to cannibalism if injuries or open wounds occur, attracting further pecking and potentially leading to death. Factors like overcrowding, stress, and lack of resources can also contribute to increased aggression.
Chickens naturally form a social hierarchy, often called a pecking order, where dominant birds establish their position through aggression and pecking. This behavior is normal, but it can become problematic if it leads to injuries or if a bird is consistently targeted and bullied. …
The initial pecking and aggression to establish the pecking order can sometimes be severe.
