MAILBAG:

I am an Orange County resident who was born and raised on an egg ranch in California. I am outraged at the authors of Proposition 2 who are claiming that Proposition 2 will improve the standards for farm animals, particularly chickens. On the contrary, Proposition 2 will jeopardize the health and well being of chickens and will also jeopardize the health of all individuals who eat any egg products.

My family, along with all the other egg producers in California, has raised chickens in cages since the 1950s. Raising chickens in cages has many advantages: It keeps the chickens off the ground, where they walk and lie in their own feces; keeps them from eating dirt, insects, fecal matter or whatever else may be on the ground; keeps them safe from wild animals, migratory birds and rodents, which carry diseases that can also be deadly to humans; keeps them safe from other chickens, which will peck at each other to establish status in a huge flock; keeps chickens from laying their eggs on the dirt on top of all the chicken excrement, where the egg could lie for days before they are handpicked by a worker; and cages keep the mortality rate lower because chickens on the ground sustain more broken bones because as they get spooked they will pile up on one another, crushing those on the bottom.

How can anyone believe that raising chickens out of their cages is safe for the chickens and for humans? Personally I have never eaten a cage-free egg and never will!

Because of the high cost and increased liability of raising cage free chickens, egg farmers will have to leave California, forcing us to buy out-of-state eggs and worse yet, eggs shipped in from Mexico and China! The cost of eggs and egg products can triple, if not more.

Proposition 2 clearly is not in the best interest of the people and farm animals in our state. Vote no on Proposition 2 to ensure that local farmers continue to be able to provide safe, fresh and affordable eggs in California.

SYLVIA ALLEN

Santa Ana