First-ever global investigation into cage eggs implicates New Zealand

A split-screen image. On the left, close-up of several eggs. The four in the foreground have the following text on them “Price gouging. Bird Flu. Cruelty. Public Health.” On the right is a close-up of a brown-feathed hen in a cage, with lots of missing feathers on her neck and wings. She is perched on a metal pole, and is hunched over, because the roof of the cage is so low. — Image credit: Eggs – Open Wing Alliance; Hen in colony cage – Farmwatch

We Animals, The Open Wing Alliance, and Reporters for Animals International have just released the results of a global investigation into industrialised egg farms, and their findings reveal a shocking scale and shameful levels of cruelty and unsanitary conditions. In never-before-seen footage, including from New Zealand, it exposes widespread abuse of hens used for eggs trapped in filthy, overcrowded cages, with evidence of injured birds, rotting carcasses, disease-ridden conditions, and more.

As well as New Zealand, investigative footage was obtained from 36 other countries, including: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

Key findings from the global exposé include:

Hens confined in battery and enriched/colony cages, giving each chicken only the space of an iPad, or less, to live their entire life;
Automated systems that leave dead bird carcasses trapped in cages with living hens;
Living hens abandoned in manure and waste pits, and eggs found in manure before sent to shelves;
Birds unable to stand upright or fully spread their wings;
Unsanitary conditions that promote disease spread, like avian influenza.

The exposé included footage from an Auckland colony cage farm, right here in New Zealand. Calling the farm “hell inside“, a volunteer investigator from Grassroots Campaigns NZ described an overwhelming and horrific scene inside the factory farm sheds:

“The sound of thousands of trapped chickens, the industrial fans cranking and the stench of waste is beyond words”

Investigators of the Auckland factory farm found the hens in almost complete darkness, with row upon row of hens crammed into barren, wire cages. One of the hens filmed has lost nearly all her feathers.

It’s also a taste of hell outside the shed doors – their video shows a dead body of a hen simply discarded and left on a muddy path outside.

Cages are a New Zealand issue. Since 2023, when battery cages were outlawed in Aotearoa, there has been a disinformation campaign by the factory farm lobby to mislead caring New Zealanders about the continued domestic production of cage eggs. Battery cages are no longer in use, but colony cages are. Eggs sold at retail level from these colony cage systems don’t contain the word ‘cage’ anywhere on the packaging. Following a number of complaints, the Commerce Commission is currently conducting a compliance project to assess whether colony eggs are a breach of the Fair Trading Act.

Adding to the misery, most liquid eggs used in processed foods here are imported from countries that still use battery cages, with no labelling disclosure allowing people to make an informed choice. As shown in a 2024 report by Animal Policy International, over 80% of New Zealand’s liquid eggs, used largely in food manufacture, are imported from China and Australia, where hens used for eggs are kept in battery cages. Produced using methods that are illegal here, they are added into Kiwi foods and quietly sold to the caring public who are unaware.

And this is not just an animal welfare problem — it’s a public health crisis waiting to happen. This investigation comes as bird flu sweeps across every continent, jumping from farmed birds to wild animals and even humans.

Several workers dressed in white coveralls, are dumping live hens from bins into a chute connected to a large gassing container. — Struggling hens are dumped from bins into a chute connected to a large gassing container.
Credit: Lukas Vincour / Zvirata Nejime / We Animals Media

This unprecedented coordinated worldwide campaign is not simply an exposé – it is a call for action. The investigation shines a spotlight not only on farms themselves, but on multinational brands dragging their heels on fulfilling corporate policy to transition away from cage eggs in their supply chains. Supporting the investigation’s call to action, over 100 celebrity figures signed an open letter urging food corporations to end the use of cages in their global supply chains:

“What this footage exposes to the world is heartbreaking. And what we demand is change and accountability. As public figures and citizens of this planet, we join the growing global movement calling on you to do the right thing: end the use of cages in your egg supply chains—everywhere, for good.”

– From the Open Letter calling for companies to end the use of filthy, cruel cages in egg supply chains

This is why over the last week we have been putting pressure on Best Western Hotels and Resorts, demanding that they honour their commitment to go 100% cage-free, and report comprehensively on their global progress.

This ground-breaking global investigation sends a powerful message: the shame of cage eggs can’t be hidden. It’s time for corporations everywhere to be accountable and transparent about their cage-free progress, and to put an end to cruel caged confinement.