Barn eggs (BN)

Barn hens are kept in their thousands, inside large buildings, with no access to the outdoors. ​

​

Some barns keep hens loose on the floor while others use multi-tiered metal structures to increase the number of hens that can be kept inside the building, similar to what is shown in this video.

​

Barns can provide nest boxes, perches, litter and scratch pads but hens are still unable to express their natural behaviours properly. They are kept under artificial lights and will never see sunlight.

​

In barns, up to seven hens are kept in a square metre of space.​ They will often have had their beaks trimmed off with a laser as a chick. This is done because hens get frustrated when crammed indoors. They take this frustration out on other hens by pecking them. This can turn into cannibalism. 

​

Barn hens are killed at 18 months old and are typically used for pet food. At that age, hens lay less and produce eggs that have thinner shells, which affects profitability. (Video credit: Tamara Kenneally).

​

Male chicks born into the egg industry have no use as they don't lay eggs and they are not used for meat production in New Zealand. The egg industry kills over three million day-old male chicks every year by gassing or instantaneous fragmentation (minced alive at a high speed).