Laying hens are slaughtered at 18 months — after years more of natural productive life — creating welfare and waste.
The disposal of spent laying hens represents both a welfare problem and a cultural failure. Hens slaughtered at peak economic productivity — before their laying rates decline below commercial viability — have years of natural productive and social life ahead of them. The low meat value of spent hens means they are sometimes not slaughtered humanely but abandoned. Hen rescue organizations take advantage of this economic fact by acquiring spent hens and placing them in homes as garden chickens, where they thrive for years more. Supporting these programs connects people directly to farm animal welfare.