Henocide

The U.S. is a nation of chickens --more than 430 million of them, or about twice as many as people. Nearly three out of four of the birds are raised for the sole purpose of laying eggs. Therein lies a problem: a superfluity of busy chickens has led to a surplus of eggs. Retail prices are down to 40-c- a dozen in some areas, and wholesale prices are at their lowest levels in more than 30 years. Farmers complain that eggs now sell at an average of 5-c- less per dozen than the cost of production, and that they are losing money at the rate of about $300 million a year.

How did the glut arise? Prices were as high as $1 a dozen retail in 1969 and early 1970, causing many farmers to overorder new laying hens. Since high prices meant high profits, many outside investors--looking for the tax advantages that farming can offer--put their money into eggs. Early last year a new vaccine was swiftly eliminating Mareks disease, an affliction that used to wipe out 15% to 20% of the nation's hens every year. Besides, per capita egg consumption has remained virtually static at little more than 300 per person a year.

Because of regional rivalries in the egg business, farmers have not been able to agree about limiting the size of flocks to drive prices up again. Now, however, Congress may force eggmen to act.

Last week the Senate Agriculture Committee approved the egg industry adjustment act, which would require each producer to slaughter a percentage of his hens. The bloodletting could be ordered only after eggs had sold below the cost of production for three straight months, and only upon approval by two-thirds of the nation's producers in a referendum. Compliance would be enforced with fines of up to $5,000. Such drastic measures are warranted, argues Committee Chairman Herman Talmadge of Georgia, to avoid a rash of chicken-farm bankruptcies. "They have been selling eggs below the cost of production for two years," he says. "If that isn't need, I don't know what is."

Not all Congressmen agreed. "Henocide!" cried Illinois Representative Paul Findley. "Plucked down to bare facts, this bill is nothing more than a scheme to use the lethal authority of Government to force up the market price of eggs by killing hens." Findley was particularly piqued that the bill singles out female chickens for liquidation. "The gals of Women's Lib," he told the House, "will surely ungirdle their sharpest clawings for those who do nothing --not even harmless, painless vasectomy--to the males, the perpetrators of production. Surely they will bare their beaks and demand roostercide instead of henocide."

Agriculture Committee staffers give the bill a good chance of passage in the Senate. The measure could result in the eventual execution of millions of hens and the recovery of egg prices to at least last year's levels. Even if the bill does not pass, enough bankruptcies among egg producers would eventually drive prices back up anyway. In either case, the loser stands to be the consumer, who is already aggrieved by rising prices of most other foods.

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