As advocates for chickens in the egg industry, we’ve heard it all. Over and over again, the same “gotcha” comments pop up beneath our posts—seemingly simple statements that attempt to justify eating eggs. But when we dig a little deeper, these claims start to unravel.
In this two-part series, we’re breaking down the most common myths we encounter. Here’s Part 1.
1. “No chickens are killed for eggs.”
This is one of the most common misconceptions we encounter—and one of the most misleading.
The idea that eggs are a harmless byproduct rests on the belief that no lives are taken in the process. But the egg industry depends on killing to function. Both hens and male chicks are routinely killed as part of standard egg production practices.
Every egg-laying hen is eventually slaughtered when her production slows—usually before she even turns two years old. Her short life is spent in confinement, her body pushed to produce egg after egg at a rate far beyond what nature ever intended. This extreme overproduction leads to serious health issues, including reproductive disorders, brittle bones, and exhaustion.
But the killing starts even earlier.
Because male chicks don’t lay eggs and aren’t profitable for meat, they’re considered useless by the industry. Just hours after hatching, these baby birds are typically killed—ground up alive, gassed, or suffocated in trash bags. Globally, this adds up to about 6 billion male chicks killed every single year. Their lives are discarded before they’ve even begun.
If every hen came from a hatchery, so did her brother—and he didn’t make it past his first day.
So yes, chickens are absolutely killed for eggs. Not just eventually. From the very beginning.
2. “Male chicks aren’t killed—they’re raised for pet food.”
This claim attempts to gloss over one of the egg industry's most brutal truths: the systematic culling of male chicks.
Because male chicks don’t lay eggs and aren’t bred to grow quickly enough for meat production, they are considered worthless to the industry. Unlike other animal-based food sectors, egg production depends on hatching fertilized eggs without knowing the chick’s sex in advance. As a result, chicks must be born first, then sorted by sex—an operation that leads to the immediate killing of males.
Within hours of hatching, male chicks are discarded—often gassed or ground alive. Their deaths are not a rare exception, but a standard industry practice carried out for the sake of efficiency and profit. Weak, injured, or deformed chicks—regardless of sex—are also culled in this process.
Some argue that these chicks are used for pet food, but even if that’s occasionally the case, it doesn’t make the practice ethically acceptable. Raising them for a few more weeks only prolongs their suffering before an inevitable, premature death. Every path leads to slaughter.
Even emerging technologies like in-ovo sexing—marketed as a compassionate alternative—do not address the suffering of the hens themselves or the parent birds used to produce fertilized eggs. The grim reality remains: male chicks are treated as disposable by-products of an industry built on reproductive control and exploitation.
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3. “Hens lay eggs anyway—it would be wasteful not to eat them.”
At first glance, this argument may seem practical. But it completely overlooks the reality of how hens come to be in egg production in the first place.
Modern egg-laying hens are not backyard wanderers casually leaving eggs behind. They are bred, purchased, and kept for one reason: to produce eggs—hundreds of them per year. This isn’t a natural occurrence; it’s the result of decades of selective breeding and manipulation. Unlike wild birds who lay just a handful of eggs to raise chicks, today’s hens have been genetically engineered to hyperovulate almost daily, far beyond what nature ever intended.
This unnatural burden takes a serious toll on their bodies. Chronic reproductive strain leads to health problems like inflammation, hunger, pain, and exhaustion. And when their production slows—typically before they even turn two—they’re slaughtered.
Using the argument “they lay them anyway” ignores that these hens are bred to suffer. Their existence has been engineered for profit, not for life.
4. “I only buy locally farmed, free-range eggs—these hens have a good life.”
This comforting belief—that buying “free-range,” “organic,” or “local” eggs means supporting happy, well-cared-for hens—is widespread, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
Egg labels vary greatly by country and often mislead consumers. In Canada and the United States, for example, “free-range” simply means the hens have some outdoor access. How much? That’s usually unspecified. In the UK and Australia, the standards are slightly more stringent, but still allow wide variation. Meanwhile, “organic” eggs might come from hens fed pesticide-free grain and granted limited outdoor time, but even these labels don’t guarantee humane or natural conditions.
What’s more, “local” farms often mirror the same industrial practices used by large-scale producers. Small scale doesn’t always mean kind. These hens are still products of the same hatcheries where male chicks are killed at birth, and the females are bred for unnatural levels of egg production. Their high output causes painful health issues like osteoporosis and reproductive tract problems, and once their egg production slows, they are slaughtered—often before they turn two.
Labels may offer the illusion of care and transparency, but they do little to alter the deeper problem: the systemic exploitation of hens for profit.
The egg industry is built on decades of carefully maintained myths—claims that eggs are harmless, natural, or humane. But the facts tell a different story. From the systematic killing of male chicks and the relentless exploitation of hens’ reproductive systems to the misleading comfort of free-range labels, we’re often sold a fantasy far removed from reality.
And these are just the beginning.
In Part 2 of our myth-busting series, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most persistent misconceptions around hen biology and egg marketing—like why hens don’t naturally lay an egg a day, how artificial lighting is used to manipulate their cycles, and whether a dark orange yolk really means anything about the life the hen lived.
If you’ve ever been told eggs are the most natural food there is, stay tuned. The truth is far more engineered.
Sources & Further Reading
Debunking the Most Common Egg Industry Myths – Part 2 (coming June 2025)
How to Replace Eggs: Recipes and Resources
Ready to Go Vegan? Vegan Bootcamp
