Facts About Irish Farm Animals - EGG LAYING HENS & EGG LABELLING

What does Compassion in World Farming want?

Compassion wants all egg-laying hens to be reared in an environment that allows them to carry out their natural behaviours, whilst keeping them protected from the weather and safe from predators. Compassion wants to see all hens given sufficient room to move around freely, with space to stand fully upright and to flap their wings. We want all hens to be able to carry out their natural behaviours, such as scratching at the ground, dust-bathing, perching, and nest-building. Ideally, we believe that hens should have access to outdoor pastures.

Compassion believes that battery cages are inhumane because they deny birds the opportunity to carry out their natural behaviours. Enriched cages offer little improvement in terms of welfare. We believe that well-run, well-managed free-range systems should be promoted because they offer better a better welfare standard for hens.

Compassion welcomes EU legislation that has brought about clearer labelling of eggs. We especially welcome the requirement for all battery eggs to be labelled as "Eggs from caged hens". This allows consumers to make an informed choice when buying eggs, and in particular it makes it easier to avoid buying battery eggs.

However, the labels saying "Eggs from caged hens" are often very small and not easily seen. We believe that clear, easily-read labelling of eggs is essential, so that consumers can make properly informed decisions.

Introduction

The ancestors of our modern hens are thought to be the red jungle fowl that live in the forests of India and South-East Asia. Domestic hens first appeared in China around 1400 BC. Naturally, hens would make a nest and lay and incubate one or two clutches of eggs a year. When the chicks hatch, the hen would protect her young in their first few weeks of life. Today's modern egg-producing hen has a very different life.

How many laying hens are there in Ireland?

There are around 2 million egg-laying hens in the Republic of Ireland. About 68% of these are kept in battery cages (see photo). The rest are in alternative systems, mainly free-range. The proportion of laying hens in non-cage systems has grown over the last years in the Republic of Ireland.

Is it legal to keep hens in battery cages?

In June 1999, following a successful campaign by Compassion and other animal welfare groups, the European Union (EU) voted to ban battery cages for egg-laying hens. From the year 2003, no new battery cage systems may be constructed in any EU country (including the Republic of Ireland) and the battery cage will be completely outlawed across the EU from 2012. This is a long phase-out period during which hens will continue to be kept in battery cages in the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU.

Egg producers have come up with a different type of cage for laying hens, called the "enriched cage" (see photo, left). This has a small perch, a scratching area, and a small nestbox. The enriched cage is slightly bigger than the battery cage, but it is still far removed from the welfare benefits of well-run free-range systems. Indeed, as you can see, the enriched cage looks similar to the battery cage. The enriched cage is legal, and will continue to be legal when the battery cage is banned.

What are battery cages?

Battery cages (see photo, right) have a sloping wire mesh floor, and the floor area of each cage measures about 46cm by 51cm. This is a very small space for the hens to live in, especially when you consider that a hen's wingspan is about 80cm. There isn't enough room in a cage for one hen to stretch her wings, and it is normal to have 5 hens kept in a single cage at any one time. European law currently says that a hen must have a minimum floor space of 450 cm²; that is less than the size of a sheet of A4 paper.

Where are the cages kept?

The cages are arranged in rows (or batteries) 3 to 6 tiers high inside huge, windowless sheds. On average, a battery hen shed in the Republic of Ireland contains about 7,500 birds. Artificial light is kept on 17 hours a day to encourage the hens to lay more eggs - the conditions try to mimic summer. Heating and ventilation are controlled. Feeding is automatic, the food being carried along on a conveyor belt in front of the cages.

How can hens behave naturally in battery cages?

Hens cannot carry out normal behaviours properly in battery cages. Conditions are very cramped and they are unable to scratch around in any kind of litter, dustbathe (fluffing up their feathers in dry mud), peck at the earth or build a nest. They can of course eat, drink, pass waste and lay eggs. However, they cannot feed as they would naturally by foraging. The birds cannot stretch their wings fully, walk, run or fly up to a perch. The cage is not high enough for the hens to stand fully upright.

How does living in battery cages affect their health?

Hens kept in battery cages often suffer from weak bones (osteoporosis). The main cause of this is acknowledged to be lack of exercise. It results in easily broken bones or death.

How does living in a cage affect their behaviour?

Because the hens cannot behave normally, some behaviours become altered. Instead of pecking at the ground they peck at each other. Chicks may have part of their beak removed to stop them doing this. Beak-trimming may be done using a red hot metal blade - a painful process. In systems that provide for the welfare of hens, beak-trimming should not be necessary.

How old are the hens when they are put into battery cages?

Hens are put into the cages when they are around 18 weeks old, just before they start laying eggs. After about a year the hens lay fewer eggs. On most farms they will then be removed from the cages and be slaughtered. Their tough meat is used in soup, paste and pet food.

How many eggs does a hen produce?

Modern hens have been bred to produce many more eggs than their wild ancestors, which laid around 20 in a year. Today's battery hen lays more than 250 eggs a year on average.

What happens to male chicks?

Obviously the males do not lay eggs and they are not the right breed for meat. Around 1 million day-old male chicks are killed in the Republic of Ireland each year. They are killed by gassing or a machine that minces them.

What are the alternatives to battery cages?

Laying hens can be successfully kept in semi-intensive systems known as percheries or barn systems and, of course, the free-range system. Compassion believes that well-run and well-managed free-range systems offer hens a life where they can behave reasonably naturally, and therefore are a good alternative to battery cages.

What are perchery or barn systems?

According to the Irish Department of Agriculture & Food, there are very few perchery or barn systems in the Republic of Ireland at present. In percheries birds are kept in large sheds with several tiers of perches, plus floor space with litter (usually wood shavings or wood shavings and straw). Nest boxes are provided and there may be natural light. The systems vary but some can still be very crowded. However, percheries are an improvement on the battery system. The eggs from these systems are sold as "Barn Eggs".

What is free-range?

Hens in free-range systems may be kept in a large perchery-type shed but they must also have access to an outside area covered in vegetation. Conditions can be very good for the birds if there are not too many of them together in a single flock. A particularly good system is where a number of small moveable houses are used (each house holds around 100 birds). Free-range hens can behave naturally; they can scratch and peck at the ground, stretch and flap their wings, dustbathe, etc. The eggs are sold as "Free range eggs".

In systems where the free-range hens are fed on a natural diet and certain other standards are met, the eggs are called "organic".

What label is on boxes of battery eggs?

Since the beginning of 2004, EU law makes it compulsory for all boxes of eggs to be labelled on the outside to show how they were produced. This means that eggs from hens in battery cages must be labelled as "Eggs from caged hens". Other egg labels are "Free range eggs", "Barn eggs" and "Organic". All egg boxes MUST have one of these four labels on the outside. The labels saying "Eggs from caged hens" are often in very small lettering and hard to see. We believe improvements in labelling are still needed.

Which law deals with the welfare of laying hens ?

The relevant EU law is Council Directive 1999/74/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens.

The EU legislation governing egg labelling is Council Reg. (EEC) No. 1907/90 as amended.

What you can do to help hens?

Encourage your family and friends to always buy free-range eggs. Check on the box that the label clearly says either "free range eggs" or "organic".

When buying ready-made products that contain eggs, such as cakes, biscuits, ready-meals, etc., check the label to see if the product is made with free-range eggs. If the label does not specifically say that the eggs are free-range then it is likely that these are battery eggs.

What now?

Compassion wants well managed, welfare-friendly systems where hens are not crowded together in high densities. Systems should allow them to perform their natural, instinctive behaviours. Ideally all hens should have access to the outdoors.

The EU legislation that bans the battery cage from 2012 has a review clause built-in, and the egg industry are trying to get the ban on the battery cage deferred. Compassion is working hard to ensure that the battery cage ban is not weakened in any way.

With regard to the labelling of eggs, Compassion welcomes the EU legislation that has brought about clearer labelling, and we continue to monitor the situation to ensure that all egg boxes comply with this legislation.