Why the difference between broilers and layers?
According to Marilyn Jondle, “meat chickens are couch potatoes, layers are the athletes.” Wilcox Family Farms’ facilities are animal care certified by United Egg Producers Certified Program and “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” by Humane Farm Animal Care partly in response to the public’s concern for caging birds, as well as their own desire to “always be in line with animal health,” says Andy Wilcox. The company is transitioning all of its egg production facilities to cage-free. In 1999 Barrie Wilcox, President of Wilcox Farms, was instrumental in the United Egg Producers formation of an independent scientific advisory committee charged with reviewing all scientific literature on animal well-being for egg-laying hens. The results of this committee eventually led to the United Egg Producers Certified program which is said to have some of the strictest standards for animal care in the industry. Gene Bunting with Lazy 54 Farms says that he is seeing more people buy their own broilers
