Organic vs Free Range vs Conventional Eggs

An egg is an egg is an egg. Or is it? What is the difference?

Conventional/battery hen eggs -

Here, hens are cramped into tight cages. They are almost inhumanely de-beaked to prevent them from pecking each other to death. In such close-range quarters, they will most definitely otherwise kill and cannibalize each other.

These chickens never have access to the outdoors or sunlight. They are usually riddled with disease and routinely treated with antibiotics. When egg production goes down (usually after 2 years), they are sent to slaughter for meat (I heard Campbell's is a big buyer of this meat for their chicken soup).

Cage-free/Free-range eggs -

Since these terms are not regulated in the US, the conditions of 'cage-free' hens are usually similar to their battery counterparts. The only difference is that instead of a cage, the mass of chickens are housed in open warehouses. They do not need to have access to the outdoors to be labeled as 'cage-free'.

Pastured eggs-
Again, this term is not regulated in the US. However, pastured usually suggests that the hens have access to the outside and access to grass.

Organic eggs-

Organic egg certification requires hens to be raised humanely. They are fed non-GMO feed. They may or may not have access to pasture but would have access to the outdoors. They are not given antibiotics unless necessary.

"From hens fed with a vegetarian diet" is by far the most laughable claim. Having chickens has taught me that chickens are by far NOT vegetarian. They will eat meat with gusto. They will also readily peck and attack any chicken that shows signs of weakness to death and cannibalize it. Even in our small coop, there is no real way for us to stop this. It is impossible for a commercial farm of any size to truly make such a claim.

Even though our chickens are not organic or pastured, (they are fed regular feed and only have access to grass part of the day in spring/summer). Our eggs still retain their beautiful orange yolks even in the dead of winter (they become more orange in spring/summer). They look vastly different from commercial eggs.

Studies have shown that hens in a less stressful environment produce healthier eggs. The only real way for us to know how laying chickens are raised is to raise them ourselves. Thankfully, in the US, more and more municipalities are allowing people to rear hens (not roosters).

If keeping your own chickens is not possible, a good alternative is to seek out local small-scale farmers. These farmers would usually allow you to take a look at their chickens. Good places to start are localharvest.org and craigslist.