I am in agreement with Sugarfoot Jack that the treatment of intensively farmed animals throughout their whole life is something worthy of a shock horror article

But wait! -

On 15 July 2007 The Mail reported that
'Battery hens 'as happy as birds that can roam outside'

Factory farming means that large numbers of animals, typically cows, pigs, turkeys, or chickens are held, often indoors, typically at high densities the aim of which is to produce as much meat, eggs, or milk at the lowest possible cost.
Food is supplied in situ, and a wide variety of artificial methods are employed to maintain animal health and improve production, such as the use of antimicrobial agents, vitamin supplements, and growth hormones.
Physical restraints and or cages are used to control movement or actions regarded as "undesirable"

For egg production, battery farms consist of huge, windowless sheds housing thousands of hens who are crammed four or five at a time into small wire cages stacked on top of each other in rows.
The hens are put in to the cages at around 18 weeks old and will not come out again until they go for slaughter (around 72 weeks of age).

Each hen has 450cm² of space - the equivalent of an A4 sheet of paper.
The average wing span of a hen is 76cm

Most intensive egg farms are fully automated - everything from the lighting to the feeding, watering and egg collection is controlled automatically. The cage floors slope forward so that eggs roll on to a conveyor belt and are taken away to be boxed. In order to promote egg-laying, the sheds are artificially lit for approximately 17 hours each day, with the lights coming on at around 3am.

Unable to perform their natural behaviours, the bodies of battery hens degenerate through lack of exercise.
Unable to scratch at the ground, their claws overgrow and may curl round the wire mesh of the cage.

The decaying corpses of dead birds are not always removed immediately The top and bottom rows of cages, potentially housing thousands of birds, are particularly difficult to view simply because they are not at eye level
Battery farms being very automated are frequently staffed by only a few people. If enough staff were employed to enable each cage to be inspected each properly, the battery system would no longer be financially-viable.

"Only the least-cost producer survives in agriculture"
CEO of the second-largest pig producer in the U.S.

(Information on egg production from The Vegan Society and
Farm Animal Welfare Network)