University of Delaware: Stop Using Inhumane Battery Cage Eggs

It's time for the University of Delaware to do what hundreds of other universities have done and switch to using only cage-free liquid and shell eggs in its dining services. UD's Student Government has passed a unanimous resolution calling on the school to go cage-free, and over 3,500 University of Delaware students and staff have signed a petition in support of the change. Even UD alumni are now vowing to withhold donations to the University until a switch to going cage-free is announced.

The vast majority of egg-laying hens in the United States are confined in battery cages. On average, each caged laying hen is afforded only 67 square inches of cage space—less space than a single sheet of letter-sized paper on which to live her entire life. Unable even to spread their wings, caged laying hens are among the most intensively confined animals in agribusiness.

Because of public opposition to battery cage confinement, many egg producers are switching to cage-free systems. These systems generally offer hens a significantly improved level of animal welfare than do battery cage systems, though the mere absence of cages sometime isn’t enough to ensure high welfare.

Unlike battery hens, cage-free hens are able to walk, spread their wings and lay their eggs in nests, vital natural behaviors denied to hens confined in cages. Most cage-free hens live in very large flocks that can consist of many thousands of hens who never go outside. The vast majority of cage-free hens live on farms that are 3rd-party audited by certification programs that mandate perching and dust-bathing areas. These advantages are very significant to the animals involved.

Support the humane treatment of animals by the University of Delaware! Support Cage-Free at UD!

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