By MOLLY LYNCH
Lynch Communications Group, LLC

WARSAW — The U.S. Agricultural Department recently reported approximately 8.6 percent of the country’s egg-laying hens, or 23.6 million birds, were cage-free as of September, 2015, up from 15 million birds four years ago and 9.1 million eight years earlier.

While large restaurant and food chains and consumer packaging companies are adopting cage-free operations, Egg Innovations, parent company of the Blue Sky Family Farms brand, shares why cage-free is not enough – and their free-range, pasture-raised egg productions create more humane, ethical and higher quality eggs.

As part of the initiative, Egg Innovations announces the completion of the egg producer’s first 10-acre, free-range operation at the Mahlon Graber farm, Fort Wayne.

“This is another major milestone for us to lead the industry in the humane production of free-range, ethical eggs,” said John Brunnquell, founder and president of Egg Innovations and the Blue Sky Family Farms brand. “And because our chickens get outdoors on pasture, customers keep telling us that our eggs look and taste better. This inspired us to create the ‘freedom tastes better’ campaign to help educate America on making the more humane choice. Unlike cage-free, we think outside of the barn for our hens.”

Driven by consumer demand, an increasing number of companies like McDonalds, Starbucks and Costco are embracing the transition to cage-free eggs over the next five to 15 years. While this is a more humane approach than caged, the hens spend their entire lives inside a barn.

True free-range, pasture-raised egg production, such as the ones used for Blue Sky Family Farms, provides hens the freedom to roam not only inside barns, but also outside, allowing them to do what chickens naturally do: forage, scratch, dust-bathe, flap wings, perch, nest and interact socially.

Conventional, caged-egg programs, which make up more than 90 percent of eggs sold in America, produce basic white eggs and chickens are confined to an indoor cage with just 8 inches by 10 inches of space per bird for life.

The new free-range facility outside Fort Wayne provides more than 21 square feet per hen outdoors, compared to the one square foot per hen with typical cage-free indoor facilities, extended temperature ranges for additional seasonal outside access and state-of-the-art barn building, equipment and systems.

Additionally, Egg Innovations’ animal welfare officer, Kristie Lane, oversees the flocks’ operations from placement through certified humane processing at retirement.

Free-range, pasture-raised eggs also have thicker shells, high orange yolks and thick egg whites.

For more information, visit www.BlueSkyFamilyFarms.com and www.EggInnovations.com.