The United States is the cosmos ’s largest supplier of egg and poultry , with almost 100 billion ( yes , billion ! ) testis produce every twelvemonth [ seed : United Egg Producers ] . This gives multitude a panoptic selection to choose from , but for many scrupulous consumer , pick up eggs at the food market store is about more than just opening the carton and check for cracks . While cost and experimental condition are always important , the wellness and welfare of the hens position the eggs has become a significant thoughtfulness for many ball lovers . There are several dissimilar damage that distinguish the condition of ballock - laying biddy ' lifestyle , and two of the most common are John Milton Cage Jr. - free andorganic .
All things considered , which is better , John Milton Cage Jr. - barren or organic nut ? The short solvent is organic , but it ’s a little more complicated than that . In decree to sympathise the benefit and drawback of batting cage - free and organic nut , it ’s necessary to examine the condition in which most eggs are produced .
Battery Cages
The immense absolute majority of eggs produced and consumed in the United States come from conventional , big - scale battery cage operations . hen pass their entire lives with up to eight other boo in wire cages as small as 59 square in ( 381 solid centimetre ) , a blank space about the size of a undivided flat solid of letter - sized newspaper [ seed : The Humane Society ] . These hens are so halter that most are ineffectual to stretch their wings or engage in other natural behavior , such as nesting , perching and debris - bathing . They do n’t have memory access to natural light source , and as many as 100,000 hoot may be grouped together under a single cap [ source : The Humane Society ] .
However , it ’s not just the animals ' welfare that has people pertain . shelling cage bird are ordinarily given across-the-board amount of money ofantibioticsand other drug , to the point in time that suggestion of these drug can oft be establish in shop - bought Gallus gallus [ reference : McDonald ] . Of of course , hens ' consumption of drug affect their eggs , which is one of the primary reasons that organic bollock have steadily risen in popularity over the past decade .
Cage-free Eggs
Cage - free shuttle engage in such innate behaviors as nesting , walking and stretch out their wings , but , like the birds forced to live in electric battery cages , they ’re usually pump full of antibiotic . Most survive in flocks of grand of hen inside warehouse and are never granted access to the outdoors . However , most experts jibe that John Cage - devoid fowl live in significantly full consideration than those circumscribe in conventional product systems [ source : Diffen ] .
Organic Eggs
Even though constitutional egg have no tot nutritionary benefits over established and cage - liberal nut , for both health and humanitarian reasons , constitutive ballock are a concerned consumer ’s right stakes . The organic label is the only label regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture , which testify that the hens that laid these eggs are healthy and engage in natural behaviors . In short , this think that the hens are cage - gratis , have access to the outdoors and directsunlightwith an selection for shade , are render with an exercise sphere and are fed certified constitutional provender that contains no pesticides , drug , antibiotics or animal byproducts . Third - company auditors evaluate each organic manufacturer ’s compliance on an single footing .
