KALONA — Though not “free as a bird” in many respects, the hens that lay “cage-free” eggs, unlike their conventional counterparts, can walk around, scratch in the dust and fly up to their roosts.
That quasi-freedom, in contrast with the caged lifestyle of hens in conventional facilities, accounts for the increasing popularity of cage-free eggs among consumers, industry experts say.
“It’s a consumer-driven trend,” said Jonathan Spurway, a spokesman for Rembrandt Foods, the nation’s third-largest producer of eggs, headquartered near Thompson in north-central Iowa.
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