Massive amounts of snow and ice in Bozrah, Connecticut, caused the roof of a barn on a factory egg farm to collapse, killing all 85,000 hens inside. It was a miserable way to die for birds who already had a miserable way to live.

Egg-laying hens on typical factory farms are crammed into battery cages that are not wide enough for them to spread their wings. Birds defecate on one another, and disease is rampant. Many of the hens lose their feathers because of sickness and stress, and their bones—made fragile by calcium deficiency caused by producing egg after egg—often break. Birds die in the cages every day and are left there to rot, forcing other hens to sit on top of their corpses. When the hens' egg production drops, they are sent to slaughter.

The deaths of the Connecticut hens were tragic—and so were their lives. Bear that in mind the next time you see a carton of "farm fresh" eggs—and consider using egg replacements instead.

Written by Michelle Sherrow  

Last week, we told you about TWJ Farms, an egg factory farm in Nebraska that planned to kill 70,000 unwanted chickens by placing them in an industrial machine and grinding them up—while still alive. According to a whistleblower, TWJ has killed hundreds of thousands of hens this way in recent years, and TWJ CEO Joe Claybaugh seems to confirm it in news reports. A witness stated that many of the birds were maimed or mutilated during the process and suffered in agony for hours before they died.

After PETA sent an urgent plea asking local and state law enforcement officials to intervene—and thanks to your calls and e-mails to the company—we have received confirmation from the Nebraska State Patrol that TWJ will not grind up the 70,000 chickens as planned.

We're still waiting to hear directly from TWJ and its primary egg customer, Minnesota-based Michael Foods, Inc., that TWJ and all Michael Foods egg suppliers will use only legal, approved means to kill sick, injured, or unwanted chickens. But you don't have to wait to make a difference: You can help spare millions of birds from unimaginable suffering by cutting eggs out of your diet.  

Written by Paula Moore