factory farming

Intensive rearing of poultry or other animals for food. These are usually fed on high-protein foodstuffs in confined quarters. Chickens for eggs and meat, and calves for veal are commonly factory farmed. Some countries restrict the use of antibiotics and growth hormones as aids to factory farming because they can persist in the flesh of the animals after they are slaughtered. The emphasis is on productive yield rather than animal welfare, so conditions for the animals are often very poor. For this reason, many people object to factory farming on moral as well as health grounds.

Egg-laying hens are housed in ‘batteries’ of cages arranged in long rows. If caged singly, they lay fewer eggs, so there are often four to a cage with a floor area of only 2,400 sq cm/372 sq in. In the course of a year, battery hens average 261 eggs each, whereas for free-range chickens the figure is 199.

European Union's agriculture ministers agreed in June 1999 to end all battery egg production across the EU from 2012.