Dear Paul,

«maybe some of our 'Old Fart' deniers can come up with some alternatives, but I doubt it!»

Yes: stop this human population growth, the root cause of the deterioration of our quality of life, of regimentation by government laws and regulations, of being forced to turn away from nature and become slaves of technology, and well, if you believe in "climate change" then of that too.

To all the anti caged chook devotees. A quick lesson in reproductive biology. As already explained by David Leyonhjelm.

Chooks in cages lay more eggs.
It is a fact that when animals are under stress, their reproductive systems suffer. It happens to humans, high producing cows are harder to get pregnant, it also happens to chooks. The fact that caged chooks produce more eggs than all the others is a direct result of the fact that they are under less stress. They are generally in a controlled environment, free from all the other stresses thrust upon their fellows, nothing else to do but lay eggs.

Incidentally, they are also fed a similar diet to the rest of the chook world.

Wake up to yourselves.

David

Nobel Prize winner Dr. Konrad Lorenz, said:

"The worst torture to which a battery hen is exposed is the inability to retire somewhere for the laying act. For the person who knows something about animals it is truly heart-rending to watch how a chicken tries again and again to crawl beneath her fellow cagemates to search there in vain for cover."

Dr. Michael Appleby, one of the world's leading poultry welfare experts, writes:

"Battery cages present inherent animal welfare problems, most notably by their small size and barren conditions. Hens are unable to engage in many of their natural behaviors and endure high levels of stress and frustration. Cage-free egg production, while not perfect, does not entail such inherent animal welfare disadvantages and is a very good step in the right direction for the egg industry."

VK3AUU, like battery hens you haven't got a leg to stand on. As for Leyonhjelm the less said the better.

Quod scripsi, scripsi
David