The exponential increase in the human population on Earth since the Industrial Revolution has placed increased pressure on food production worldwide. The world population reached approximately 7.2 billion in 2013 (United Nations Information Center, 2013) and as a result, the need for eggs and poultry has also increased significantly (Pluhar, 2010). Due to this increased demand for food, there has been a change in the way agricultural practices work to produce the large quantities of meat and eggs needed to feed the population. The method of intensive breeding has become quite a controversial issue and has caused apprehension among many different factions of society. These concerns relate to how high-density agricultural practices lead to dangers associated with environmental impacts, human health, and non-human well-being. Animal protection and animal rights groups say the conditions the animals live in are cruel and abhorrent. This notion of cruelty invites debate around the complex and multidimensional question of the moral and ethical obligations that humans have towards other animals. The issue of battery chicken farming is further complicated by economic, social, political and food safety issues. For these reasons, the issue merits further investigation. The main aim of the essay is to explore the moral and ethical issues that humans have towards non-human animals using battery chickens as a case study to highlight the topic. In conclusion, public opinion appears to be growing in favor of banning battery hens. Philosophy of Animal Welfare: Philosophers and scholars have long debated humans' moral and ethical obligations toward nonhuman animals. The opposing paradigms of animal ethics in the middle of the article ......vironmental Ethics, 23, 5, pp. 455-468. Regan, T. and P. Singer, eds. Animal Rights and Human Obligations 2/e (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989)Rollin, Bernard. E, 2004. “Animal welfare and rights: VI. Animals in agriculture and factory farming. Encyclopedia of bioethics. 3.1. New York: United States, pp. 212-215.ROGER FJELLSTROMEnvironmental Values, Vol. 11, no. 1 (February 2002), pp. 63-74 Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation, 2/e (New York: Avon Books, 1990). Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics, 2/e (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993). Taylor, AA and Hurnik, JF. 1996. Long-term productivity of hens housed in battery cages and an aviary. Poultry science. 75:47-51. United Nations News Center, 2014, “Projected world population to reach 9.6 billion by 2050”, UN report, consulted 21/01/2014.