Organic Egg Scorecard Criteria

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Organic Egg Scorecard Criteria

Ownership Structure
Commitment to Organic Label
Add On Labels
Flock Size(s)
Hen Housing Type
Indoor Spacing
Outdoor Spacing
Quality of Outdoor Access
Outdoor Access Timing
Enrichments
Alterations
Chicks and Pullets
Deaths, Culls, and Spent Hens
Environmental Impacts
Feed Sourcing
Animal Welfare
Transparency
Soy free and/or gluten free? (non-scoring)
Organic Certifier (non-scoring)
Extra Credit

Ownership Structure

Some brands comprise a single farm or neighboring farms; others source from multiple farms/operations. The Ownership Structure score reflects how closely the brand owner manages the final product. Single or neighboring farms that interact with hens daily score the highest; businesses that contract egg production and lack direct, routine interaction with the laying hens score the lowest.

Commitment to Organic Label

Brands that sell only certified organic products, or source from contracted farms that produce only certified organic products, are typically more dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the organic label. Brands that source conventional and organic eggs from the same property (physical location) cannot prove beyond a shadow of doubt that eggs have not been comingled or mislabeled. Suppliers on these “split operations” are more likely to be caught in fraud or mislabeling products. They may also switch back and forth between organic and conventional (often free range) egg production in the same housing structures.

Add On Labels

Some egg brands opt to add other certifications on top of organic certification. Third-party animal welfare labels have become increasingly common due to lackluster poultry welfare standards under the organic label (as of 2023). While an additional label can demonstrate commitment to certain standards, some add-on labels contribute to the “greenwashing” and “humanewashing” we see in the organic egg marketplace. Our rating system for third party add-on labels for organic eggs is based on how meaningful and robust the standards are and how they are enforced.

Flock Size(s)

Flock size indicates the number of birds of laying age that are managed in each barn or housing structure. Flock size also represents the hens’ potential “social group.” Lower flock sizes typically offer greater animal welfare benefits.

Hen Housing Type

The best hen housing is clean, provides ample space for natural behaviors, and prevents social stressors. Highly rated housing must offer regular access to the outdoors. Exits should allow all hens to access the outdoor area at the same time. Brands with multiple suppliers receive an average score based on the various systems used.

Mobile housing ensures high-quality outdoor access by regularly moving to fresh ground. One common example of mobile housing is “chicken tractors,” which keep hens in an enclosed pen, but allow air flow and sunshine, as well as access to the ground and vegetation.

Enhanced fixed housing rotates the hens’ access to high-quality outdoor space through multiple doors all around the building. The indoor space features enrichments such as deep bedding and perches. Natural (over synthetic) lighting is prioritized.

Double/aviary style housing is found in fixed barns that provide multiple “shelves” for  hens to access overhead space. This type of housing is designed to increase the number of birds producers can pack into barns.

This scoring category considers how easily birds can leave their house to utilize outdoor areas. All hens should be able to exit freely, without impediments or social stressors, as soon as the doors are opened each day. (Laying hens sleep at night, and doors are typically locked to protect hens from nighttime predators.) Both mobile and stationary housing can offer unencumbered exits, an important aspect of high-welfare housing.

Top operations on our scorecard exceed industry standards for swift exits by offering large doorways. In contrast, industrial-scale brands housing tens of thousands of birds often utilize just a few small popholes leading to a small porch or token gravel strip.

Hens that are forced to crawl over hundreds of other birds or navigate other obstacles en route to a pophole may stop trying to access the “outdoors.”

Indoor Spacing

For birds, high animal welfare means having enough room to move freely, stretch their wings, and easily escape aggressive flock members. Environments that provide enough space for the birds to perform all their natural behaviors receive the highest score.

Outdoor Spacing

Calculations for outdoor spacing can sometimes be misleading. Many brands post their square footage per hen without noting whether the hens are outside year-round or just seasonally. Cornucopia’s scoring mechanism primarily weighs how much space the birds have throughout the active season, meaning the time they’re actually allowed to go outside. In some climates, hens are only outside during the growing season, so the supplier’s location (and climate) is considered in this score.

Mobile housing, especially chicken tractors, may also provide less space per day on paper compared to a fixed barn with massive acreage outside the doors. However, the former offers more usable space. Land can be counted into space allowance even when the chickens are unable to access it. Mobile housing or even well-rotated outdoor space close to fixed barns allows the chickens to be introduced to fresh ground regularly.

The most consequential factor, for both the hens and the operation’s Outdoor Spacing score, is whether the hens remain uncrowded and have enough space to perform natural and instinctive behaviors, including foraging, dust bathing, grooming, etc. When housing and outdoor access vary seasonally, the housing that the birds spend the most time in is given more weight.

Quality of Outdoor Access

The following is considered when rating outdoor access on a sliding scale:

1. Whether exits allow all birds to freely use the outdoor space
2. The quality of the soil and the amount of vegetation (concrete and gravel surfaces score low)
3. The presence of feed, water, and shade structures (natural shade structures are especially good)
4. How the outdoor space is rotated and managed
5. If the birds get year-round outdoor access and/or have access to “winter gardens” that allow them to forage while protected from the elements.

Outdoor Access Timing

The stage at which birds are introduced to and/or are allowed to head outdoors is often dependent on the weather and climate of the region in which the producers reside. Research shows that the sooner pullets (young chickens before they start laying) are introduced to the outdoors, the more likely they are to use outdoor areas as adults. Some brands go above and beyond and introduce their birds to the outdoors when they are just a few weeks old. Because this practice usually indicates extreme hands-on attention and care while setting the birds up for a quality life outdoors, it gets extra points.

Enrichments

This scoring area addresses both indoor and outdoor enrichments. Year-round access to perches, scratching areas, deep litter, novel foodstuffs, and dust bathing access receive the highest score for enrichments. Good outdoor enrichments entice the birds to fully utilize and explore their outdoor space. Some brands also provide novel outdoor enrichments, such as hay bales.

(See the notes in the individual brand for details about the enrichments this brand provides.)

Alterations

Beak trimming, or tipping, is the only physical alteration that is common in organic egg production. This alteration involves removing the “hook” tip of the bird’s beak and is usually done at the hatchery when the birds are chicks. Organic farmers that buy their birds from hatcheries might not have a choice as to whether their birds come to them beak tipped. Encouraged by consumer demand, the organic industry is moving away from this practice, and more organic egg producers choose unaltered birds when they are available.

Chickens use their beaks to interact with the world. Laying hens with full beaks are better able to preen themselves and forage outdoors. However, in densely stocked flocks or flocks without good outdoor access, the birds can become aggressive and can do more damage to each other when their beaks are fully intact.

Chicks and Pullets

The organic standards allow operations to source non-organic chicks if the birds are managed organically (including feed) by their second day of life. This common practice allows farmers to adapt the chicks to their new environment and production system while avoiding the cost and technical expertise required for maintaining a breeding flock to produce new layers.

Some brands purchase ready-to-lay organic pullets. These hens will not always be well adapted to their laying environment, and there may be less control over the welfare of the flock prior to its arrival on the farm.

While not common, some organic producers raise their own chicks. These farmers can fine-tune the welfare and environment of those chicks (and breeder flocks), as well as develop region-specific strains that thrive on that particular farm. These producers go above and beyond and therefore receive extra points.

Deaths, Culls, and Spent Hens

Where do hens go when they’re no longer being used for eggs?

While hens can live up to 8 or 10 years, peak production usually occurs through their second or third year of life. Most producers cull or sell their flocks when production dips and start anew with a fresh flock. The hens that are removed from commercial production are called “spent hens.”

Many brands do not dictate what their suppliers do with spent hens. When a brand focuses on selling their spent hens live or for consumption, it is usually an indication of a higher welfare environment with healthy birds.

The brand’s death rate is also addressed by this category. Some loss is common for young chickens, but a high death rate could indicate systemic issues with hen welfare. (Scoring exceptions for anomalous events such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and predation are noted if applicable.)

Environmental Impacts

This scoring category considers the entire supply chain by examining the environmental impact of supplier farms. All organic egg farms grow or buy chicken feed raised without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

Brands with high quality environmental stewardship carefully handle their manure and thoughtfully maintain natural resources. Maintaining vegetation and avoiding “moonscape” (the bare ground that occurs when chickens overuse an outdoor area) is especially important to protect the local environment.

Brands that regularly perform soil and water testing, promote biodiversity, consider benefits to ecosystem services, and see their hens as part of the on-farm nutrient cycle received highest points.

Feed Sourcing

The highest points are allotted to brands that produce all hen feed on-farm, and the lowest points are given to brands that source their feed from questionable sources.

The USDA has begun to crack down on grain fraud, but concerns remain that grain and legumes fed to laying hens may come from fraudulent organic sources. Industrialized organic brands are more likely to take advantage of cheap, abundant feed by ship or rail without asking questions about its authenticity.

Unless a farmer has the advantage of growing all their own feed or contracting for every ingredient directly from another farmer and milling it themselves, the traceability of the feed supply chain can be impenetrable.

It shows enormous dedication to organic ideals to produce some or all livestock feed on-site, so those producers receive extra points.

Animal Welfare

This scoring section considers several animal welfare aspects, summarizing the brands’ overall animal welfare impact when compared to other organic brands. All organic producers provide better welfare than the most common conventional production, which raises laying hens in cramped battery cages. Among the aspects considered in this score are:

1. Legitimacy of outdoor access
2. Hen comfort and safety
3. Cleanliness, including ammonia exposure and tracking indoors
4. Support for natural and instinctive behavior in the hens
5. Lifetime considerations such as how the chicks and pullets are raised
6. Winter/off season housing
7. Flock mannerisms, behaviors, and signs of stress
8. Allowed alterations and flock molting (forced molting with the withdrawal of feed and water always results in a low welfare score).

Transparency

Brands committed to full and open disclosure to both Cornucopia’s investigators and their consumers are considered high-rated in this category. Brands must participate in Cornucopia’s survey and cooperate with other investigations, such as in-person visits, to receive full points in this category. Most producers who voluntarily participated in this study received a high score for disclosure (transparency).

Soy free and/or gluten free? (non-scoring)

Soybean is one of the primary ingredients in poultry diets, but it causes problems in some consumers with allergies. Wheat is also a common additive in poultry diets. This information is provided so consumers with allergies can seek out eggs that are soy-free and/or gluten free.

Organic Certifier (non-scoring)

This non-scoring section is provided for information only.

Extra Credit

Chick maceration: Consumers are rightly concerned about the animal welfare implications of male chicks being destroyed because they have no value in the egg industry. Organic producers that buy their chicks from hatcheries have little choice but to participate in this system, but many have expressed that they would like to see the industry move away from the practice. The producers who opt out of chick maceration often must jump through hoops and have added expenses, which we take into account with extra credit points.

Synthetic methionine: The main supplement of concern in poultry diets is synthetic DL Methionine. Methionine is an essential nutrient for poultry, meaning they must have it in their diet or they will become ill. The National List allows only a certain amount of synthetic methionine in poultry diets, meaning no more than 2 pounds per ton of DL Methionine is used in any organic feed ration. Some organic farmers avoid using this synthetic nutrient entirely by providing their birds with methionine from a natural food source through novel feedstuff.