View our most recent exposé from Burnbrae Farms, supplying eggs to grocers across Canada, including Sobeys and Farm Boy.
Cruel cage conditions on Canadian egg farms first made headlines in the early 2010s—but few would have imagined they’d be seeing the same shocking practices more than a decade later. Today, caged hens in Sobeys’ egg supply chain are still suffering in those same conditions.
Now, a new undercover investigation is exposing systemic cage cruelty that contradicts Sobeys’ public commitments to animal welfare. This never-before-seen footage shows the cruel reality behind 80 percent of the eggs Sobeys sells to Canadians, calling into question the company’s “Sustainable Business” credibility. Hens were crowded in filthy barns of stacked wire cages, each with barely a sheet of paper worth of space. They could not spread their wings or feel the ground beneath their feet.
The footage implicates a major egg supplier and brands sold at Sobeys Inc. grocery banners, including Golden Valley and Born 3.
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This farm houses about 50,000 hens exclusively in cages, both conventional battery cages and what the industry calls “furnished” or “enriched housing”. Eggs from this farm are shipped to Golden Valley, an affiliate of L.H. Gray & Son, one of only two major egg producers in Canada. These eggs from caged hens are sold under brands like Born 3 at Safeway, a Sobeys-owned store. As recently as July 2024, Sobeys’ sustainability team published a cage-free statement approved by President and CEO, Michael Medline.
Cruel Cage Conditions in Sobeys’ Supply Chain
The conditions witnessed at this Sobeys supplier farm show hens enduring relentless confinement. Sobeys’ caged hens remain trapped nearly a decade after the company adopted a cage-free policy in 2016.
The investigator witnessed hens crammed into battery cages—conventional and “enriched”—listless and missing clumps of feathers. They witnessed a hen who had died with her head stuck between cage bars, while others remained trapped beside the bodies of their dead cagemates. To stop birds from escaping, this farm uses electric wires that shock them on contact.
“ Mortality has been high lately. Birds die from various health issues, but they can’t afford to bring each one to the vet. They mentioned fatigue and prolapses as two common causes. ”
—Animal Justice Undercover Investigator
Suffering & Death Inside Sobeys Caged Hen Farms
Birds were dying slow and painful deaths from getting eggs stuck inside their reproductive tracts—the result of decades of being bred to lay unnaturally high numbers of eggs. The farm typically uses cervical dislocation (neck breaking) to kill sick and injured birds on site, but had previously swung them around by their necks.
Cage confinement on egg farms is one of the world’s most urgent animal welfare issues. This is because the suffering is so intense and long-lasting. Hens trapped in cages cannot nest, forage, perch, scratch, or dust bathe—behaviours that are essential to their well-being. Illnesses and injuries such as osteoporosis and bone disorders are common. Hens also endure fractures from brittle bones, respiratory illness, painful lesions, and foot disorders from wire flooring.
Hens are curious, social animals who love to explore and play. Like cats, many chickens enjoy pets, close their eyes and purr. But in cages, they are trapped—unable to move freely, express themselves, or feel safe.
According to the Welfare Footprint Project, hens in “enriched” battery cages endure 5,475 more hours of pain in their lifetimes than those in cage-free aviaries. Year after year, caged hens spend every day struggling in stress, fear, and unimaginable pain.
Sobeys Falls Behind US in Phasing Out Cages
Cage-Free Progress Reported
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Under Sobeys’ management, major grocery banners like Safeway have fallen significantly behind their US counterparts.
In just two years from 2021-2023, the US Safeway increased cage-free progress from 27 percent to 60 percent. Canadian Safeway, with its corporate responsibility policies under Sobeys, stalled at 17-18 percent each year.
As of 2025, no additional progress has been made in Canada.
These aren’t just numbers. They represent millions of hens spending their entire lives languishing in cages, year after year, just like those witnessed in undercover footage.
But the Canadian egg industry has been engaging in humanewashing, calling some cages ‘alternative’ or ‘enriched housing.’ These cages add only a few square inches of space per bird and a token furnishing item like a perch or a scratchpad. With broken promises from companies like Sobeys, Canadian egg producers are keeping the country in the dark cage age while the US, UK, and EU cage-free.
Animal Justice is urging Sobeys’ leadership to take action and publish a plan to finally get rid of all cages. Speak out today to help free Sobeys caged hens from this cruelty. Please join us in holding Sobeys accountable!
