California’s Prop 2 (The Rotten Egg Initiative)

I never thought I would be an opinion leader in the politics of chickens, but a few friends have emailed me asking for advice on Prop 2. Furthermore, I am looking at my absentee ballot today. I decided I should do my due diligence and spend a few minutes looking at it.

This initiative would outlaw use of specific confinement systems for chickens, veal calves, and pregnant sows. It requires that animals be able to stretch their limbs and turn around in a circle. If you have seen battery hen cages, you would note that the egg-laying hens are sitting in a little cage with no room for a good leg stretch. Likewise, veal calves are kept from moving so that they do not develop unwanted muscle. I have never seen the sow arrangement, but they are confined in pregnancy and again postpartum to keep them from squashing their new piglet.

The pig portion of the law is one area of controversy. The law would allow pigs to be confined just before giving birth, in the last week before its due date. After the birth, the sow becomes “non-pregnant” and no longer falls under the confinement law which applies only to pigs in pregnancy. The “No on Prop 2” side is making a big deal that pig confinement is necessary to keep the pig from killing the piglet. What they don’t seem to mention is that Prop 2 applies only to pregnant pigs. Unless a miracle occurred somewhere in the process, the presence of the piglet would suggest the pig is no longer pregnant.

Feeling a lot like a pregnant sow lately, I find myself somewhat predisposed to Prop 2. It sure is nice to be able to roll over and stretch my legs as much as my joints might creak to do so. I’m “yes leaning” on the pig portion of the issue.

Chickens are probably the most discussed area of the law, likely because most of us eat quite a bit of eggs. Opponents say that the legislation is poorly worded and might outlaw indoor chicken operations altogether. The text of the law doesn’t suggest ambiguity or such an extreme conclusion. If a chicken’s indoor yard allowed the chicken to flap its wings and turn around, it would be good-to-go.

An important argument for the opposition is the increase in egg prices likely with this proposed law. The little cages for laying hens are apparently the most cost-effective way to produce an egg. Furthermore, Capital Ag Press reports that 30% of California eggs are brought from out of state. California egg producers would be at a disadvantage competing with eggs from battery operations out of state. It is likely that proponents do not see this as a big deal since I expect they have a list of states to lobby in next for similar legislation. (I won’t mention the notion of eggs from China or Mexico.)

Opponents of Prop 2 also argue that the law would be taking a step backwards in food safety. This argument appears to be their very best argument. Those little cages that laying hens get to live in can be kept much cleaner than an open facility. The hens aren’t laying on the eggs of other hens. With egg layers myself here, I have some appreciation for the amount of manure that can attach itself to an egg in open laying boxes. That said, the manure potential grows in direct proportion to my laziness in cleaning those boxes. Laying boxes can be managed to reduce poop on eggs but probably not as well as battery cages can be managed.

An interesting angle on this legislation is that if farmers convert their battery operations to non-confinement operations, they are then a stone’s throw from entering a higher-end egg market. They can add some flax to the feed and call the eggs “Omega 3 eggs” or they can buy organic feed and go organic. Consumers will have a more difficult time figuring out which hens actually get to forage and which are just hanging out in a big building.

Prices of eggs will go up with this initiative and it just about kills me to vote for higher food prices at the beginning of a who-knows-how-long-and-how-bad economic event. To complicate things for me, the law affects my household very little since we do raise our own eggs. It just doesn’t seem right to be voting about other people’s food choices, but then I think about that pregnant sow again as I sit here pregnant.

I am “yes-leaning” on Prop 2.

For more information, read both sides:

Yes on Prop 2

No on Prop 2

For sheer entertainment on our purchase of the wrong type of chick, read:

She’s at least a triple D

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