Egg-laying Hens

Each year in B.C., more than two million hens lay 636 million eggs. That's approximately 275 eggs a year per hen! Ninety-five per cent of these birds live on conventional egg laying farms where they spend their entire lives in small, cramped cages, called battery cages.

But are battery cages necessary for egg production? Egg farmers like them because they allow a large number of hens to be kept in efficient and orderly conditions, allowing for high productivity and keeping the birds away from their feces. This results in low costs to the farmer and low prices for the consumer. But in the end, the welfare of the hens is sacrificed.

To learn more about how hens are raised in Canada, read our detailed factsheets:

The Life of An Egg-Laying Hen

The Housing of Egg-Laying Hens

Cluck! (classroom unit for grades 4-7)

The Future of Confinement Housing for Egg-Laying Hens (battery cage phase-outs and bans around the world as of April 2012)

BC SPCA Views on Urban (Backyard) Chickens

Transport of Hens for Backyard Flocks

Fast Facts about Hens and Eggs