After more than a year of laying eggs in a tiny wire cage, she’s a shell of herself. Then her usual food disappears. This is “forced molting”—a horrific egg industry practice that pushes hens’ bodies to the absolute brink.

You’re probably thinking: Shouldn’t it be illegal to deprive animals of the nutrients they need for weeks on end? Yes. It should be. But across factory farms in the US, forced molting isn’t just legal. It’s a widespread practice.

Molting is a natural process in which old, damaged feathers are replaced by new ones. (Think of it as a wardrobe refresh for birds.) As autumn turns to winter, a hen loses her feathers and stops laying eggs, allowing her body to focus on growing fresh new plumage.

In factory farms, artificial spaces completely removed from the rhythms of the seasons, the egg industry manipulates the natural molting process for its own gain. When hens are “spent”—industry-speak for animals who are exhausted from laying unnaturally high volumes of eggs—factory farmers purposely feed them a low-energy diet for as long as four weeks. At the end of this molting period, hens’ bodies go through one final cycle of egg production.

During the molting process, hens can lose up to 30% of their body weight. But the psychological anguish is just as bad, if not worse. Hens have been documented showing signs of hunger during the forced molting period, as low-energy diets may not ever allow them to feel full. Forced molting also increases aggression and injurious pecking, making hens more vulnerable to cannibalism.

Let’s call “forced molting” what it is: torturinganimalstomakeanextrabuck.

If you believe hens deserve better than to suffer this abuse, join us in calling on companies to end the unacceptable practice of forced molting.