Colo. egg producer gets cage-free certification

PLATTEVILLE - How do you like your eggs? No, I'm not talking about scrambled or fried, rather how they are produced.

Today, most US farmers still use the battery cages for their hens, but more and more operations are starting to offer a cage-free option. So, what exactly does that mean, besides the obvious?

Morning Fresh Farms agreed to show us, but we had play by the rules. Particularly, anyone who's been exposed to birds in the past 72 hours is not permitted inside the barns for fear of spreading disease to the hens. Before our tour, everyone had to cover-up from head-to-toe in a hooded coverall and plastic boots.

It's Morning Fresh Farm's standard bio-security program for the protection of their birds.

Derek Yancey, President of Morning Fresh Farms is our tour guide.

"There are the Hy-line Brown Birds," he said.

We're standing in one of four cage-free barns on the property, and there are thousands of birds in one area, and down below you can watch as their eggs are carried away on a rod conveyor to the production facility.

Morning Fresh Farms was started back in the 1970's by two brothers. Now the farm is the largest egg producer in Colorado, and recently received certification for its cage-free practices.

The first thing you notice when you walk into to one of the barns is the low light and warm temperature. Yancey says all the barns have alarms that will let them know when temperatures are too hot or too cold.

"They are all climate controlled houses, they are ventilated, and have artificial lights so we can control the day length," explained Yancey.

Morning Fresh Farms decided to expand its operation to offer cage-free eggs 2002. It's now one of three egg farms in the state to offer cage-free eggs, but is recently the only farm to gain certification through American Humane.

"What we are trying to do is meet what the consumer wants at the shelve space," said Yancey.

American Humane is a 131 year old organization that's based in Colorado. It's mission is to look out for the welfare of animals and children across the nation. In 1996, it started American Humane Certified, a science-based farm animal welfare program built around a comprehensive set of stand and audits.

"In the past two and half years our program has grown from 50 farms to over 600, and 5 million animals to 50 million," said Kathi Brock, director of strategic partnerships, American Human Certified.

Brock says today consumers are not only concerned about the nutritional value of their food, but also its welfare.

"We're seeing more and more of people wanting to make sure the animal proteins that they are buying are being taken care humanely," said Brock.

Morning Fresh Farms developed its cage-free operation after a German model. Inside the barn, hens have an upper level to perch, lay, and drink and eat; downstairs is a scratch area where they can spread their wings and take dust baths.

"We've gone to Europe and selected a system that meets our needs and our desires for our facility," said Yancey.

Morning Fresh Farms' cage free eggs are packed under the Eggland's Best Cage-Free label.

They are more expensive, as Yancey explains it costs Morning Fresh Farms 2.5 times more to produce the cage-free eggs verses the battery caged.

Brock says, "It's like organic, it's going to cost more, and people are willing to make that decision."

A survey conducted in 2007 for American Humane Certified by the independent Public Opinon Stragtegies organization found 58% of consumers said they would spend an additional 10% more for meat, poultry, eggs, or dairy products labeled as humanely raised.

As far as Yancey can tell, his cage-free birds at Morning Fresh Farms lay the same number of eggs as the caged birds, but they do consume more feed, and the cage-free hens have a higher mortality rate then their caged birds. At this point, Yancey says it's unclear why that's the case.

It's also interesting to know, brown eggs and white eggs share the same nutritional value, provided the feed is the same. Same goes for caged-eggs verses cage-free according to Morning Fresh Farms. You may have noticed some cartons come with a "nutritionally enhanced" label. Yancey says that means the hens were fed a special diet that enriches their yoke and nutritional content.

For more information on Monring Fresh Farms visit : http://www.morningfresh.com/.

To learn more about American Humane: http://www.americanhumane.org/