For 5-14 days all sustenance is withheld. The industry does this to induce a molt. The hen loses her feathers, and when finally given food and water again, the survivors lay bigger eggs. Debeaking requires the hen s beak to be cut through so she can t peck the other hens jammed into a cramped battery cage in which four or five hens are forced to exist. Scientific studies have shown that the cut beak causes permanent pain to the hens.
Battery cages are so small that none of the victimized hens can even spread their wings.
Their claws sometimes grow around the wires of the cage floor, causing more pain and distress. Hens have a strong urge to dust bathe, to run about and eat natural foods, and to build and lay their eggs in a nest where the chicks can hatch but every pleasure is denied them, all for the sake of commercial gain. United Poultry Concerns Karen Davis and Veterinarians for Animal Rights Ned Buyukmihci and Teri Barnato have led the fight. Both Karen and Ned have doctorate degrees, and their words carry weight with publications as diverse as The Washington Post and Feedstuffs, the big agribusiness trade journal. On May 1st, Feedstuffs told its readers that UEP recently named an advisory committee to reconsider the guidelines in view of new scientific and social trends.