Signed by Governor Jared Polis

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires Colorado eggs to be cage-free by 2025.

Highlights:

• Defines “cage-free housing system” as an indoor or outdoor controlled environment for egg-laying hens to which all of the following apply, including (Sec. 1):

• For an indoor environment, the egg-laying hens are free to roam unrestricted, except by the following:

• Exterior walls; and

• Interior fencing used to contain the entire egg-laying hen flock within the building.

• Egg-laying hens are provided enrichments that allow them to exhibit natural behaviors including minimum scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust bathing areas; and

• Farm employees can provide care while standing within the egg-laying hen’s usable floor space.

• Specifies that cage-free housing system shall not include systems described as battery cages, colony cages, enriched cages, enriched colony cages, modified cages, convertible cages, furnished cages, or similar cage system (Sec. 1).

• Defines “egg-laying hen” as a female domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, goose, or guinea fowl kept for the purpose of commercial egg production (Sec. 1).

• Defines “usable floor space” as the total square footage of floor space provided to each egg-laying hen, as calculated by dividing the total square footage of floor space provided to each egg-laying hens in an enclosure by the number of egg-laying hens in that enclosure including ground space and elevated levels of platforms (Sec. 1).

• Defines “egg product” as an egg of an egg-laying hen that is separated from the shell and intended for human food, whether in liquid, solid, dried, or frozen form and specifies that it does not include food products that include egg as one of the multiple ingredients (Sec. 1).

• Defines “commissioner” as the commissioner of agriculture (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that “usable floor space” does not include perches or ramps (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits a farm owner or operator beginning January 1, 2023, from knowingly confining an egg-laying hen in an enclosure with less than 100 square feet of usable floor space per egg-laying hen (Sec. 1).

• Repeals the aforementioned section on January 1, 2025, after which a farm owner or operator shall not knowingly confine an egg-laying hen in an enclosure that is not a cage-free housing system or has less than one square foot of usable floor space per egg-laying hen (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits a business owner or operator from knowingly selling or transporting a sale in the state a sell egg or egg product that the business owner or operator knows or should know was produced by an egg-laying hen that was confined in a manner that conflicts with the aforementioned requirements (Sec. 1).

• Exempts the aforementioned sections during the following, including (Sec. 1):

• Medical research;

• Examination, testing, individual treatment, or operation for veterinary purposes;

• Transportation;

• A state or county fair exhibition, a 4-H program, and similar exhibitions;

• Slaughter, if done in accordance with applicable law; and

• Temporary periods for animal husbandry purposes.

• Exempts farm owners or operators that have annual production from 3,000 or fewer egg-laying hens if the eggs are only sold within the state (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that violators of the aforementioned sections shall be subject to a fine by the commissioner not to exceed $1,000 (Sec. 1).

Full Bill Text