Ganga Prabhakar's farm-to-table restaurant in Bengaluru prioritizes high-quality ingredients, sourcing free-range eggs for better taste and texture. The eatery's suppliers are farms in Andhra Pradesh, including one run by Subbarathnamma, who made a successful switch from conventional to free-range egg farming and now raises 300 hens.
Happy Hens, a company supporting ethical poultry farming, helps farmers with resources such as equipment and veterinary care. Its co-founder, Manjunath, also educates them in the spatial differences between cage-free and free-range farming and how the various approaches improve living conditions for chickens. Research suggests that free-range hens suffer less feather loss and avoid the unsanitary conditions of enclosed spaces, which can lead to health issues.
The demand for free-range eggs is growing across southern India, supported by organizations like the Gramasiri cooperative, which helps small farmers to establish their poultry businesses, which can provide a steady income even in areas with scarce rainfall.
While free-range farming requires more resources, making it more carbon-intensive, cage-free farming, as practiced by former economist Prithviraj Srinivas, is seen as a middle ground, balancing animal welfare and production efficiency. His farm, housing 8,000 birds, employs modern techniques to manage waste and maintain sanitary conditions, including water purification and controlled nutrition delivery.
Despite the ethical benefits, free-range and cage-free eggs are significantly more expensive than conventionally farmed eggs. For now most of India's 140 billion annual egg production still comes from caged farms, though producers are exploring sustainable solutions to address both nutrition and animal welfare concerns.