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From Today's New York Times

Animal Ethics

To the Editor: The term “free range” sounds prettier than it usually is. Egg production, including on free-range farms, entails the mass killing of newborn male chicks, a point made in Nicholas D. The debeaking of hens and other routine cruelties of egg production are seldom put before the public. Kristof’s column.

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From Today's New York Times

Animal Ethics

Free range” does not solve the problem of painful debeaking, enormously oversized flocks or the unnatural isolation of the birds from other sexes and age groups. The rooster watches over the flock protectively and often participates in a hen’s egg-laying ritual, an extremely important and private part of her life.