jump to navigation

Hickman Family Explain the Care of their Laying Hens July 21, 2010

Editor’s note: The following commentary from the Hickman family comes in the wake of a few letters to Hickman Family Farms about caging their chickens. To respond and correctly inform interested parties, Glenn Hickman and sister, Sharman, put pen to paper … or rather computer keyboard to computer. Meanwhile, Arizona Farm Bureau produced a video this year explaining the amazing production of eggs and how and why we must produce so many eggs for a growing population.

By Glenn Hickman of Hickman Family Farms
In November of 2008, the state of California passed a proposition, (Prop 2) regarding care standards for farm animals. The care standard for hens laying eggs for human consumption stated, “Hens must be able to spread their wings without touching another hen or their enclosures.” There is no reference to the hens being cage free or free range or organic.

Recently the California Egg Industry encouraged the passage of AB 1437, which extended the provisions of Prop 2 to eggs sold in the state. We obviously have problems with this. All of our hens are housed according to scientific care standards, insuring that each hen has plenty of space, plenty of food, plenty of water, and plenty of clean air. All of these requirements contain measurable standards. The language of Prop 2 purposefully does not. No one knows exactly what to do regarding meeting the standards of Prop 2, which was basically a “feel good” measure, akin to adopting a state motto, state hair style, or favorite car.

To give you background, California’s egg production industry has been in continuous decline for 40 years. As recently as 1995, California had 25 million laying hens and 30 million people. Today, they have 18 million laying hens and 40 million people. In order to supply California with nature’s perfect protein, the production from 22 million birds, housed in neighboring states and the Midwest find their way into California.

Nationwide, only 2% to 5% of all consumers choose to purchase cage free or organic eggs. In some pockets of prosperity, specialty eggs sell slightly better. Our family produces or sells many types of specialty eggs including cage free, organic and brown eggs. We believe the choice should be left to the consumer.

Any changes that actually become enforced, cannot take place until Jan 1, 2015. We are committed to supplying eggs to all of our customers, from Nebraska to Hawaii, with the best quality eggs, at a competitive price. As with quality, we expect to exceed any care standards enacted by any state governments.

Regarding customers that may be upset about the humaneness of cage hens, Sprouts has cage free and organic eggs. If that is a customer’s choice, we have a product for them. All of our hens, cage and cage free, all enjoy the best care possible.

Sharman Hickman Tells the Family Story
Our grandparents started our family business in 1944. When our parents assumed the leadership role in the late 1950s, they noticed that by caring for hens in cages, dramatic health improvements were made. The hens were free to access fresh feed and water 24-hours daily. In addition, they were free from the stress of predators and other stressful environmental situations. Other external climatic factors including loud noises, traffic, and overhead predators are also sources of stress to a hen. By moving them into barns with cages, all of those concerns are eliminated. Caging hens reduced aggression and it allowed for controlled socialization, which hens commonly seek. There is no pecking order in cages, which commonly happens with large territories to guard.

Arizona summers are not suitable for our white leghorns. Our hens are used to an average temperature of 78 degrees. We expect temperatures in the summer in excess of 110+ for several weeks. Our hens would heat stress in such temperature extremes. We are truly marketing-based and realize that a percentage of consumers seek cage free environments.

Maximizing the hens’ comfort level, while eliminating any stress, is the goal of our hen care program. Our employees and family is dedicated to this effort. We are transparent and proud of the fact that the hens achieve nature’s production curve in their caged environment. We offer a video for consumers to view the hens in their laying barn. There are no eggs that remain in the nesting cages. Once laid, they are immediately conveyed to washing, inspection, and packaging, and returned to the proper temperature to achieve the highest quality Grade AA certification. We have hosted several media guests to showcase our hen care programs. We couldn’t achieve the highest food safety quality insurance inspection programs without the measures we take on a daily basis to protect our hens. They are the most important employees at Hickman’s Family Farms. Our internal quality standards are higher than government standards and are at no charge to the consumer. It is our assurance to the consumer that they are consuming the safest egg money can buy.

Comments»

no comments yet - be the first?