Are free-range eggs an alternative for vegans?
Many of the problems of battery-farmed eggs are shared by free-range (also called cage-free) eggs. The male chicks are killed just as they are in the intensive egg industry. Male birds that are allowed to live are slaughtered when they reach a certain size. Hens are also slaughtered when their production declines. The USDA definition of “free-range” is so wide and vague that many free-range eggs are still produced under conditions just as crowded and stressful as battery cages. Free-range eggs are not an alternative for vegans: their production causes as much death and often the same amount of suffering as does that of battery eggs.
