Animal protection organizations are calling on the Ministry of Agriculture to move forward with the new regulations on animal welfare that the European Commission is preparing and ban cages as a procedure for housing laying hens. The oenagés Faada and Equalia have drawn up a document in which they believe that it is necessary for these animals to gain space not only for welfare reasons but to avoid the health risks associated with overcrowding.
The report calls for a transition towards alternative systems (land, open spaces…). And, in this sense, he cites Germany as an example, where the cage system for hens will be banned in 2025, while it has been eradicated in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria.
“Beak cuts, cannibalism, lack of space and high levels of stress: the eggs produced in Spain mostly come from hens that have spent their lives in small cages and suffer from these and other serious welfare problems,” points out Virginia Iniesta, Faada’s veterinarian. “We request that the necessary means be put in place and that a transition be promoted that takes the hens out of the hell of the cages,” he adds.
The report highlights the lack of space for these animals to develop their natural behaviours, as well as the effects caused by the absence of exercise and claw problems due to the lack of movement. Other consequences are cannibalism among chickens, triggered by stress and “systematic beak cutting” (at an early age, precisely so that the animals do not peck) as well as the deadly effects it causes the requirement to lay extra large eggs.
The European citizens’ initiative End the Cage Age in 2020 gathered 1.4 million signatures from 24 countries to ask the European Commission to propose legislation to ban the use of cages both for laying hens and for other species of livestock. The Commission responded in 2021, accepted the initiative and is now preparing a proposal in the context of the revision of its regulations on animal welfare, which it will have to make known at the end of the year. The new regulations could be approved by 2027. Meanwhile, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), after being consulted by the Commission, has issued a report in which they recommend avoiding the practice of using cages. Spain has 47 million hens, of which 73.5% live in cages, while the rest live in buildings on the ground (16.5%), with outdoor space (9%) and in an ecological regime (1.5 %).
This would be the minimum cost for placing the hens in sheds (on land), but would have a higher cost if they were housed with access to the outside.
“The consumer is worried about any impact on prices”, he emphasizes. And in this sense remember that eggs from chickens raised on the ground cost between 18% and 20% more than those from cages and if they are from farmers at least 35% more.
The director of Inprovo responds to animal defenders by inviting them to report specific irregularities, instead of giving a bad genetic image of the sector. “Cages in themselves are not bad; it’s another thing if the producer doesn’t maintain it well, handle it correctly or doesn’t have them fed”, adds Fernández. “We comply with the rules and when there are other regulations we will also comply with them”. Fernández recalls that when the European Commission presents its new proposal on animal welfare “producers will want to know what its economic impact is”. No producer will change the system if he is not guaranteed a fair price. “The market and the consumer will tell us how much they want to pay for an egg.”
