Re: “For B.C. chickens, life is good, farmers say,” Feb. 16.

As someone who grew up with free-range chickens and had an opportunity to visit a caged egg-laying operation, I have to tell you there is no comparison.

Our birds at home lived in a barn with perches, straw-lined laying boxes and straw flooring. There were chicken-size doors so birds could choose to leave the barn for fresh air, sunshine and normal bird behaviour. There were around 100 chickens at any one time.

Life for today’s modern bird is spent in cages hung over pits (for lack of a better word) with a huge blade that slides through the pit pushing excrement into a pile. There isn’t a blade of straw in sight. The stench is suffocating and it does not go away.

Forget the video. Teaching can be done with air from both sources — just one deep breath.

Susan Robertson

Victoria

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