Something unheard of is just about to happen CB - I'm agreeing with you on this one!
Maybe it's a way of selling papers but (and yes, like a lot of things that happen in the media) it doesn't make it right. Battery farming, of any animal, should be made illegal. If this means that chicken meat and eggs (or any other battery produce) become luxury items because it will cost more, both to look after them and dispatch them humanely, then so be it...they are not essential to our dietary requirements.