The egg industry knows that many consumers care about hens and agree that it’s cruel to confine them in tiny wire cages. But “cage-free” egg systems do little to improve hens’ welfare—and in some ways, they cause even more suffering—all while duping conscientious shoppers into paying premium prices. 

Feather pecking, fighting, and cannibalism are more common in “cage-free” barns, where stressed hens are packed together by the thousands. Up to 97% of these birds sustain painful broken bones. Hens in “cage-free” industrial egg systems are also more likely to develop respiratory disease, skin lesions, and infections caused when they walk and attempt to bathe in ammonia-laden dust and litter saturated with feces. 

Watch the stunned reactions of shoppers seeing footage of a “cage-free” egg factory for the first time. 

Hilliker’s also touts itself as being “family owned and operated,” but consumers shouldn’t kid themselves that these buzzwords carry any weight—in today’s world, “family owned” doesn’t mean small. Some of the biggest companies around—including mega chains Walmart and Publix and factory farm giants Cargill and Tyson—are family businesses.