But one thing the egg industry likely won’t trot out in its PR effort is its sordid animal welfare record.

Arguably the most abused animals in all of U.S. agribusiness, nearly 280 million egg-laying hens live in barren, wire battery cages so restrictive they can’t even spread their wings. Each bird has less space than a sheet of letter-sized paper on which to live for eighteen months before she’s slaughtered. The birds can’t nest, dust bathe, perch, or walk—they endure lives wrought with suffering.

Dr. Bernard Rollin of the Department of Animal Science at Colorado State University states that “virtually all aspects of hen behavior are thwarted by battery cages….The most obvious problem is lack of exercise and natural movement….Research has confirmed what common sense already knew—animals built to move must move.”

But common sense doesn’t always prevail in the world of animal agribusiness, and it’s generally the animals who pay the price. Not only are these birds often abused in ways that would result in criminal prosecution if they were dogs or cats rather than hens, they have almost no legal protection from cruelty. No federal laws regulate the treatment of hens on egg factory farms. And most states’ cruelty codes exempt common agricultural practices, no matter how abusive.

There’s some movement in the right direction, however. In November, Californians made their state—number one in the country for agriculture—the first in the nation to ban battery cages. Demand for animal welfare improvements is now causing some egg producers to literally rip out their cages and convert to cage-free systems. In fact, one national egg producer, Radlo Foods, recently announced it’s getting rid of all its battery cages and becoming completely cage-free.

The trend is increasingly clear: The confinement of hens in battery cages is simply out of step with the moral sentiments of the American public, and the demand for change will only continue to grow. Food retailers—such as McDonald’s—would be wise to take notice and start improving animal welfare in their supply chains.

In honor of “National Egg Month,” egg producers should accelerate this trend and retire their battery cages to make way for cage-free hens. These birds’ lives will be much better than those who would have suffered from permanent immobilization in their barren cages.

It’s hard to imagine a better way for the egg industry to celebrate this month it’s dedicated to itself.

Walk into any McDonald’s in the UK, order an Egg McMuffin, and you’ll be served a cage-free egg. And by next year, all of the whole eggs sold in every McDonald’s in the European Union will come from cage-free hens.

On this side of the Atlantic, however, the story is a bit different. At present, every single egg McDonald’s sells in the U.S. comes from a hen confined in a battery cage—a barren enclosure so tiny, the birds can barely move an inch their entire lives. In fact, according to McDonald’s own U.S. egg supplier guidelines, each bird need have only a mere 72 square inches of cage space—less than a single sheet of paper.

McDonald’s-U.S. isn’t only lagging behind its European counterparts, it’s also lagging behind its own domestic competitors. Burger King started using cage-free eggs in the U.S. two years ago, and retailers such as Quiznos, Denny’s, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. also use cage-free eggs.

McDonald’s shareholders will soon receive proxies asking them to vote on The Humane Society of the United States’ resolution urging the fast-food chain to move in the right direction on this issue. Only time will tell what they may decide, but if recent history on the battery cage issue is a guide, there’s at least some reason for optimism.

Indeed, even McDonald’s own U.S. Animal Welfare Council member Diane Halverson opposes battery cages, recently writing, “The standard industry practice of confining laying hens in battery cages is an institutionalized cruelty that must be abolished.”

As well, in a landslide November vote, in a voter initiative, Californians approved the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act — also known as Prop 2 — a new law making it a criminal offense (with a phase-out period) to confine hens in battery cages, pigs in gestation crates and calves in veal crates. California is the top agricultural state, McDonald’s birthplace and home to hundreds of McDonald’s locations.

The momentum is certainly on the side of emptying the cages. This progress allows laying hens at least the mere ability to walk around, lay their eggs in nests, and engage in other very basic behaviors denied to battery hens. Hopefully McDonald’s will see the writing on the wall and take a more responsible approach to animal welfare. The company may be lagging behind its competitors on this issue, but it’s always better late than never when it comes to reducing the suffering of animals from whom we take so much.

You can tell McDonald’s what you think. Email them here, or call 1-800-244-6227

Photo: above Pork with Bones, below what battery hen cages (the kind raising eggs for McDonald’s) really look like.