Opinion, please: Pete and Gerry's Cage Free Eggs

[Flaxbee]

12. I had forgotten (blocked, is more like it) the hideousness of debeaking...

Will check that out.

And you also hit on two issues: when the hens stop laying, they're slaughtered. And the place where this company gets their chicks euthanizes male chicks via CO2 (I think that's what it said) almost as soon as it's determined that they're males.

The company explains all of that in their FAQ.

And it makes me feel terrible to the point of deciding against buying eggs, period.

Though part of me wants to support a company that makes an effort to treat its animals well (provided there is no f*cking around with their beaks) so that other companies see that there can be profit in kindness. (The farm apparently is installing alt. energy systems, too). Because I know damn well that it will be a long, long, looong time before the world turns vegetarian / vegan. But it makes me angry that the hens are considered useless once they stop laying.

So, I'm conflicted. I can certainly do without eggs in my life, and I know there are egg substitutes for the few times I actually bake and need eggs. I've lived without eggs on toast for quite a while.

But if my grocery store, which is a biggish mid-Atlantic chain, will carry these as an alternative to the horrible factory farmed ones, I'd like to encourage that.