Battery cages do constitute animal cruelty in most senses of the word. The natural behavior of the hens is widely modified, injuries from the equipment/cage are

Battery cages do constitute animal cruelty in most senses of the word. The natural behavior of the hens is widely modified, injuries from the equipment/cage are the norm rather than the exception, and you could go on and on. So, "empathy" towards chickens in these systems isn't just anthropomorphism or oversensitivity. A lot of the same reasoning applies to dairy farms, but there the issues get more complicated.