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Most hens used in the egg industry are kept in "battery cages," where multiple hens are crowded into tiny, wire-floored enclosures with less space per each bird than a standard sheet of paper. For almost their entire lives, they cannot walk, perch, nest, or stretch their wings. It's an unthinkable existence for any animal.
But there is good news: There has been a regional wave of legislation in Western states to move to using only “cage-free” eggs, along with commitments by major restaurant and grocery chains nationally and around the globe to use only “cage-free” eggs. For egg-laying hens, this is a merciful step forward.
The commercial egg industry itself is embracing the cage-free movement. And farmers are seeking an equal application of cage-free laws across states and regions so they have better market stability, to keep supply chains running, and to hold costs down.
Under cage-free laws passed in other Western states, the living conditions for millions of egg-laying hens would be improved: instead of living in cramped cages, hens would be (at a minimum) in large barns or aviaries that let them engage in important natural behaviors: stretch their wings, perch, scratch and dust-bathe, and lay eggs in nesting boxes.
We need a law for the hens in New Mexico, too.