I think most people can agree that a hen that gets to walk around lives a more pleasant life than a hen that lives in a tiny cage. When you go to the grocery store it is hard to sift through the different egg carton labels to determine which eggs are the best for you.

Here is a brief description of the different labels compiled with the help of the Humane Society’s publication on egg carton labeling. Only 3 labels show an adherence to official, audited guidelines. Those labels will be shown underlined. Although there are guidelines for what the hens eat, there really aren’t audited guidelines for  how they are treated. California just passed a prevention of cruelty to farm animals, which gives hope that other states will follow. It could also be incentive to have backyard hens of your own!

• Certified Organic – Organic hens are fed vegetarian, organic feed that is free of antibiotics and pesticides. The hens live barns and warehouses (and not in cages) and are required to have access to the outdoors. If you read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, you will come to understand that the gray area  here is the term “access to the outdoors”. The outdoors can mean a beautiful pasture or a paved area. The farmers can keep the chicks strictly indoors fortheir first 5 weeks of life, after which they open the barn doors. At this point the chickens are so used to life indoors that they are often too afraid to venture outside. Beak cutting and forced molting (via starvation) are allowed.
• Free-Range/Free-Roaming – There are no USDA standards for “free-range” egg production. They aren’t caged, but are subject to the same conditions as above and there’s no standards as to how many chickens are in stocked in a given space. There are no standards as to what the birds are fed. Beak cutting and forced molting (via starvation) are allowed.
• Certified Humane – These hens are kept out of cages, but may be indoors all the time. They have to be allowed to perform what comes naturally to them such as dust bathing, perching and nesting. There are requirements as to stocking density, number of nest boxes and perches. Debeaking is allowed, but forced molting isn’t.
• Cage Free – These birds are kept out of cages, but may be indoors all the time. They are able to do some of what comes naturally to them (walking, spreading their wings and nesting). Debeaking and forced molting are permitted.
• Vegetarian-Fed – These birds are fed a diet that doesn’t include any recycled animals. However, there are no guidelines for their housing and care.
• Natural – There is no legal definition of “natural”. Any food that doesn’t contain artificial ingredients or added color, and is minimally processed is considered “natural”
• Omega-3 Enriched – This usually means that the hens were fed extra flax seed causing their eggs to be higher in Omega 3s. There are no guidelines for their housing and care.
• Fertile – The eggs were laid by hens who come into contact with roosters, which generally means they weren’t caged.
• United Egg Producers Certified – This is a voluntary program that most egg farmers comply with. It permits cruel and inhumane practices. The hens are given 67 square inches of space each, which isn’t enough for them to perform their natural behaviors (stretching their wings, walking, etc.). They are allowed to debeak the hens, but forced molting through starvation isn’t allowed. Compliance is verified through 3rd party auditing.

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We had a couple of inches of snow yesterday with some freezing rain. New York City is beautiful and magical for about the first hour after a snow. Then the streets turn to gray slush, with sub-zero salt water lagoons at every corner. My back garden, however, still looks pretty. 

When I went out to feed the chickens this morning, there were little bird and squirrel footprints all across the snow.

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Lest you think that I spend all of my time in the country, I thought I would post some photos from my hometown of New York City. The other day we picked Lindsay up from school and went to see some of the beautiful Christmas decorations that New York does so well. Our first stop was Lord & Taylor to see the window displays. They were sweet and magical with amazing detail. The photo below shows Clara and the Nutcracker watching a sugar plum fairy dancing. Lindsay was mesmerized.

After that, we went to Rockefeller Center. The normal hordes of people stayed away (somewhat) because of a light drizzle. It was warm, so a little rain didn’t spoil the fun for us. It actually made it possible to get right up to the ice skating rink and see the skaters. We then went to Teuscher Chocolates and got some delicious and very pricey chocolate. But hey a tradition is a tradition. I think next year we might investigate Maison du Chocolat and see how they stack up. We peeked at the windows of Saks 5th Avenue, but they didn’t hold a candle to the ones at Lord and Taylor.

Our very last stop was to grab a bite to eat at Prime Burger. I read about it in NY Magazine’s listing of places to eat around Rockefeller Center. Besides having regular tables, they had funny little pull in desktops. The food was typical diner food with the dial reading high on the grease-o-meter, but Lindsay loved it there. A happy kid at the end of the night is all I could ask for as we contentedly rode the subway back home.

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The moon with Jupiter and Venus nearby

It’s rare that many objects in the night sky outshine the bright city lights here in NYC. The three brightest objects in the sky have moved close to one another. That would be the moon, Jupiter and Venus. Run outside and take a peek because they won’t be this close until November 18, 2052!

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