Chicken welfare: Egg producers to furnish cages with perches, nests and scratch pads

The old battery cages are being phased out, giving hens access to more space and furnishings.

All new caged hen farms will give hens more space and access to perches, nests and scratch pads, while existing cages are phased out by 2036.

National poultry welfare standards released today demand egg producers only install new cages that are larger and furnished with a nest, perch and scratching area.

However, egg producers can keep their existing unfurnished cages for at least another 10 to 14 years, depending on when they were first installed, after which they must replace or modify them to ensure they are at least 55cm high, give hens access to a nest and at least 750 cm2 of usable space each, if kept in a cage of two or more birds.

The VFF called the move “concerning”. Picture: AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

Victorian Farmers Federation vice-president and egg producer Danyel Cucinotta said the gradual phase-in of the standard for existing caged systems was “concerning, especially in regards to maintaining food security as about half our eggs nationwide are produced in caged systems”.

“There is much work to do and the VFF looks forward to engaging the state government on the standards,” Ms Cucinotta said.

However, Humane Society International is calling on state governments to put in place faster phase out deadlines, with its local animal welfare campaigner Georgie Dolphin saying Australia needed to catch up with the global movement “away from cruel cages”.

“Industry has had plenty of warning that a deadline is coming, the market has been heading that way for years,” Ms Dolphin.

“Australians do not want tens of millions of hens to suffer in battery cages over the next 14 years.

“We are also calling for an overhaul of the animal welfare standard setting process.

“That this review took 7 years, is indicative of a system that’s dysfunctional and in dire need of reform.”

The review of the poultry standard began in 2015 and a public inquiry in 2018 attracted strong public interest with almost 170,000 public submissions, the vast majority of which called for a cage ban.

After the process stalled, an independent panel appointed by the review of the Australian Poultry Standards and Guidelines recommended a phase out between 2032 and

2036, and the standard announced today sets that as the agreed national deadline.