The wire floor also has an economic justification. The
excrementdropsthrough andcanbe allowedtopileupfor
manymonths until itisall removedin a singleoperation.
(Some producers
removeitmorefrequently;others don’t.)Unfortunately the
clawsofthehenarenotwelladaptedtolivingonwire,and
reportsofdamagetohens’feetarecommonwheneveranyone
botherstomakeanexamination.Withoutanysolidgroundto
wearthemdown,thebirds’toenailsbecomevery longand
may get permanently entangled in the wire. A former
presidentofanationalpoultryorganizationreminiscedinan
industry magazine about this:
Wehavediscoveredchickensliterallygrownfasttothecages.
Itseemsthatthechickens’toesgotcaughtinthewiremeshin
somemannerandwouldnotloosen.So,intime,thefleshof
thetoesgrewcompletelyaroundthewire.Fortunatelyforthe
birds,theywerecaughtnearthefrontofthecageswherefood
and water were easily available to them.^34
Nextwemustconsidertheamountoflivingspaceavailableto
layinghensincages.InBritain,theProtectionofBirdsAct,
passedin1954,isintendedtopreventcrueltytobirds.Clause
8, subsection 1 of this law runs as follows:
Ifanypersonkeepsorconfinesanybirdwhatsoeverinany
cage or other receptaclewhich is not sufficient in height,
lengthorbreadthtopermitthebirdtostretchitswingsfreely,
heshallbeguiltyofanoffenceagainsttheActandbeliable
to a special penalty.
Whileanycagingisobjectionable,theprinciplethata cage
shouldbelargeenoughtoallowbirdstostretchtheirwings