Egg Farm Investigations

Title: Egg Farm Investigations
Author/Producer: Compassion Over Killing and Mercy for Animals
Suggested Age Range: Ages 13-18 and College adult
Item Type: Video, Lesson Plan
Specs: Two documentaries—eight minutes and 18 minutes in length
Price: Free for TeachKind Network members
Suitable for the Following Subjects: Ethics, health, humane education, language arts, science, social science
Misc:
Symbol Key
How to Order: Available from TeachKind

Use this video with this lesson plan on egg production.

Description: Ninety-eight percent of the eggs sold in grocery stores come from hens who are kept in tiny, overcrowded battery cages. This video contains two gripping documentaries that expose the unsettling realities of modern egg production.

The eight-minute documentary contains powerful footage shot by members of the Ohio-based group Mercy for Animals at the Weaver Brothers Egg Farm. It documents disease-ridden hens in tiny, filthy, overcrowded cages. In one touching scene, investigators find and rescue a sick, unresponsive hen who had been thrown into a garbage can with dead hens. The documentary’s last scene is of the bird being lovingly bathed by the rescuers, who name her “Hope.”

The 18-minute documentary “Hope for the Hopeless” was produced by the Washington, D.C.-based organization Compassion Over Killing (COK). When major egg farm ISE America ignored COK’s request for a tour, COK investigated ISE’s facilities and documented sick, injured, and dead hens before rescuing eight severely abused hens.

Suggested Uses: Use this video with the accompanying lesson plan on egg production.

Health educators can use this video as a starting point for discussions on the following topics:

• The part that overcrowded, unsanitary battery cages play in the promotion of foodborne illnesses and bacteria, such as salmonella
• The human health consequences of consuming animals who have been fed massive amounts of antibiotics and hormones
• The environmental impact of keeping tens of thousands of animals in one location

Science educators can use this video to prompt discussions on the following topics:

• The breeding and genetic engineering of animals to increase “production”
• The environmental inefficiency of raising animals, as opposed to plants, as food

English and social science educators can use this video in the following ways:

• To study related current events, such as the animal rights and environmental movements’ campaigns against factory farming
• To introduce a discussion, research paper, writing assignment, or presentation on factory farming

Librarians may want to keep a copy of the video in the library for students.

Get additional literature, posters, and stickers to complete your program. TeachKind Network members can order free posters and classroom quantities of stickers and literature about factory-farming issues from TeachKind.