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In 2008 my family will begin to experiment in recycling, growing our own produce, reducing our energy consumption, perhaps becoming a little greener, more organic, and hopefully more self-sufficient.

Most of us know of the awful reality of caged egg-laying hens. Back in November after a bit of research I decided that the time had come to move to barn eggs, this month after further reading we have moved to free-range eggs. I wanted to offer a quick run down of the information I have gleaned whilst making the decision for my family.

There seems to be four categories, eggs from caged hens, eggs from hens that reside in a barn, free-range eggs, and finally organic eggs. Here’s a brief description of the conditions for each type of bird;

Caged

Hens are housed in stacked cages with the equivalent of an A4 sheet of paper in which to move around. The warehouses are usually without windows and the birds have no access to outside space. Caged hens produce 66% of the UK’s eggs.

Barn

Hens can roam around their barn but are not let outside, they are provided with perches, platforms, nestboxes and litter areas. Birds can share a barn with up to 16,000 others. 7% of eggs produced come via the barn system.

Free-Range

Birds are kept in barns with outdoor range space available for a minimum of eight hours a day. 27% of the UK’s eggs are free-range.

Organic

Hens producing organic eggs are always free range, they are fed an organic diet.

Price of Eggs

Eggs from Caged Hens (pack of 6) - £0.73

Eggs from hens reared in Barns (pack of 6) - £1.12

Free-Range Eggs (pack of 6) - £1.28

Organic Eggs (pack of 6) - £1.75

All prices are for medium eggs and are taken from a leading supermarket beginning with ‘T’

So there we have all the information required to make a direct comparison. As you would expect the price of the eggs increase as the conditions for the hens improve. The caged hens produce the cheapest eggs, free range hens are the most expensive and organic is really in another choice bracket altogether. The organic egg producing hens enjoy the same lifestyle as the free range hens and the only difference is the organic feed and organic land where they reside.

On learning of the awful conditions of caged hens, I decided that we could afford the move to barn eggs. We eat a box or less of eggs a week and that meant the difference was around 38p a week, or less. On first glance the price difference does seem fairly large (relatively) however when you look at the difference in living conditions I feel it is justified. This month whilst doing the weekly shop I was surprised to find that free range eggs were only 12p more than the barn eggs. We have now moved to free range, 12p is a small amount to pay to know that the food we are eating has come from an animal that has enjoyed as normal and comfortable a life as possible.

I expect to be making these decisions on a fairly regular basis over the next year as I investigate the benefits of living a greener, more sustainable and organic lifestyle. The dilemmas will come when we start to talk in pounds rather than pennies. Balancing the budget with the ethics is going to be an interesting challenge, but for now, the decision is pretty easy, a few pence more for a substantially superior product is going to get a yes every time.

Which eggs do you buy? Is your decision based on ethics, price, or both?

Information sources;

http://www.britegg.co.uk/ukeggs05/ukeggs2.html
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/animals/exploitation/hens.php

Photo by flickr user LynnInSingapore