Historic Hen Standards

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in conjunction with United Egg Producers, announced yesterday that they have reached an agreement to support new federal legislation for the nation’s 280 million egg-laying hens currently confined in battery cages. This unprecedented agreement aims to improve the conditions in which egg-laying hens live, including doubling the size of hens’ cages, requiring living space for hens to express natural behaviors, and prohibit the excessive use of ammonia in henhouses. “This agreement, if it comes to fruition and becomes a federal law, will be groundbreaking,” says Matthew Prescott, corporate outreach director at HSUS. “It would be the very first time animals are afforded any federal protection under the law while on farms, and the first time chickens are given any federal protections whatsoever.”