Which comes first — concern over whether egg-laying chickens are treated humanely, or the taste of the eggs?

Time was when consumers selected an egg based on its grade and color. Now the criteria include organic, cage free, omega-3. And up next, it’s pasture-fed.

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McDonald’s announcement in September that it would be moving away from eggs produced by “battery hens” to “cage-free” eggs for its 16,000 restaurants over the next 10 years ruffled feathers throughout the egg-producing industry. But for some, the move doesn’t go far enough.

“Cage-free doesn’t mean cruelty-free, but it’s a big step in a better direction,” Paul Shapiro, vice president of Farm Animal Protection at the Humane Society, told LifeZette. “It’s also better for food safety, with studies showing that cage confinement causes higher rates of salmonella than cage-free systems.”

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Cage-free hens can walk, spread their wings, perch, nest and engage in other important behaviors denied to caged hens. Yet, critics point out that most cage-free hens live in very large flocks of many thousands of hens that never go outside or see a ray of sunshine.

Cage-free hens also have parts of their beaks burned off so they can’t damage their sister layers.

“I’ve seen cage-free, and they really are terrible. It’s a sad thing,” Betsy Babcock, of the New York-based Handsome Brook Farm, told LifeZette.

Handsome Brook Farms occupies 90 acres in the Catskill Mountains and began as a bed and breakfast.

“Our guests were raving about how delicious our eggs were, because our chickens roamed free outdoors before coming into the barn to lay eggs. From that genesis, our business of pasture-raised eggs has grown in ways we couldn’t have imagined,” Babcock said.

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Handsome Brook Farms expanded to a flock of 100 chickens.

“We require 108.9 feet of outdoor space for every hen. Our chickens go to the pasture and forage for bugs and things in the dirt,” Babcock said. “They also eat grass and flowers, but we supplement that with natural grains. And then (give them) 2 square feet of nesting and barn space. It’s an excellent situation for our chickens and their natural behaviors.”

Of course, the male of the chicken species get to, well, rule the roost. Hens, like women everywhere, have a tough job.

Cage-free hens, for example, also have parts of their beaks burned off so they can’t damage their sister layers.

Does the public know, or care, about how eggs are produced?

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Jason Hill, a 40-something, is a longtime McDonald’s devotee, especially its famed Egg McMuffin.

“I don’t know much about how eggs are produced,” Hill told LifeZette. “I just know I gotta have my Egg McMuffin, man. Gotta have it! If cage-free eggs or pasture-raised make bigger, tastier eggs, then I’m all for it. Just don’t raise the price!”

The Humane Society applauds McDonald’s decision to switch to cage-free eggs.

McDonald’s decision is an important one that will improve the quality of life for millions of animals,” Shapiro said. “Of course, we also encourage companies to strive for continuous improvement. The caging of egg-laying hens has no place in the 21st century.”