For years, an egg factory farm called Little Rhody Farms has been deceiving customers across Rhode Island and beyond. Its website and egg cartons give the impression that its chickens are raised on lush green fields with a little red barn. In reality, Little Rhody Farms locks tens of thousands of chickens in wire cages so small they can’t even spread their wings. Even worse, the company is now fighting a moderate, bipartisan bill in the Rhode Island legislature that would protect chickens from this abuse and shield family farmers from unfair competition. 

I live in Foster, Rhode Island, where Little Rhody Farms operates. Through experience with my own chickens, I have learned that they are intelligent, friendly animals who want nothing more than to explore and take dust baths in the sunshine. I can’t imagine a worse way to torture a hen than to lock her in a tiny cage.

Every egg farm in Rhode Island is already cage-free, except Little Rhody Farms. Other states and countries have banned this cruel confinement. But Little Rhody farms refuses to do what’s right for its animals and its customers.  It’s time that Little Rhody Farms stop being an outlier and stop giving Rhode Island agriculture a bad name.

*Little Rhody Farms won’t let cameras into its facility, but the photo above shows the type of cruel cages the company uses.