In the ACT approximately 250,000 battery hens are caged at one facility. Each battery caged hen lives in less space than an A4 piece of paper. She cannot spread her wings and the end of her beak is cut off. The suffering of battery hens is hidden from the community and many people do not link the plight of these hens to the eggs they buy in the supermarket. Free Range Canberra aims to change this.

Why free range

Chooks have a special place in the hearts of Australians and many people grew up having chooks in their backyard. Free range hens live the way chooks should - they can walk, run, scratch, bask in the sun, breathe clean air and lay eggs in a nest. Free range eggs are better for hens and for people - free range eggs do not contain antibiotics.

The battery cage system has been outlawed in Switzerland and Austria, and the European Union is currently phasing it out. In 1997 legislation was past to ban the production and sale of battery eggs in the ACT, however it has never been enacted due to competition policy. This legislation still exists and Free Range Canberra plans to revive it.

Most of the eggs sold in the ACT currently come from the battery hens. With increased public awareness to encourage consumers to buy free range, and public pressure on the ACT Government, Canberra could become the free range capital!