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Battery Eggs on BBC News - LEAD STORY

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Gov are saying it WILL be outlawed by 2012 and its lead story on the 6 o'clock!

 

Now they are doing commercial chickens and they have pictures of a REAL broiler house - WOW at how much bigger than Hughs is. I know he said it was small but this highlights it.

 

And AAAH to the girls clucking around the reporters feet - obviously a treat was down as they were all "bottoms up"

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but battery cages are being replaced with enriched cages, the hens will still not be out of a cage. Enriched cages aren't much better than normal battery cages.

 

this is taken from an RSPCA press release....

 

 

What are enriched cages?

 

 

Since 2003, legislation has stipulated that any new cage systems built (in Europe) are so-called "enriched" cages. Enriched cages provide each hen with just 50cm² more useable space than conventional cages - the extra space is less than the size of a beer mat and the overall useable space per bird is still less than a sheet of A4 paper. The birds still don't have enough room to move around freely. There could be 20 or more than 100 hens in a cage. The majority of the flooring is still made of wire apart from a scratching mat and nest area.

 

 

Enriched cages are a step in the right direction. Whereas conventional battery cages are barren (see above), enriched cages provide the birds with limited facilities including perches, and areas for scratching and laying eggs. They have a minimum headroom of 45cm, although when hens are perching this is reduced.

 

 

The nest area is a beneficial inclusion but because its size is unspecified they are generally too small for the number of birds that use them. This means there can be competition to use the nesting area and some birds do not have the opportunity to carry out the full repertoire of nesting behaviours.

 

 

The size of the scratching mats is also not specified and they are often not big enough for the number of birds. Due to the small size of the scratching mat it is difficult to provide appropriate material and quantities so they can dustbathe properly. A recent European study found that complete dustbathing behaviours were not carried out in enriched cages.

 

 

The perches are also a positive inclusion but because of the lack of space they make it difficult for hens to move through the cages or for hens to rest undisturbed at different times of the day.

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Ok I'm going to pour water on this one, sorry.

 

Haven't we known about the 2012 ban now for quite some time :think:

 

It's despicable spin by the Government to make them look like they actually care and to appear considerate. With all the media attention on the humble hen at the moment, the Government wants a piece of news that will attract a lot of attention, no doubt to smother a really unpopular bit of news that would have come out today.

 

I don't feel like I'm having a bad day today, but just seeing straight through our pathetic Administration.

 

A

xx

Edited by Guest
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It IS a big deal as there was a real threat that that this ban wouldn't happen.

 

Hilary Benn was on the BBC news on Radio 4 he said that there was a threat that the ban would be postponed for a number of years, but he was going to make sure that it was 2012. Then they had a miserable poultry farmer on who said it was utterly ridiculous to ask him to change his poultry keeping practices in 5 years :evil: How long does he need? lazy ******.

 

Tessa

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BUT the 2012 ban was under threat - it looked like it wasn't going to happen and now it is.

 

And the best news of all was all those pictures of unhappy hens right on the beginning of the 6 o'clock news, not tucked away on Channel 4 with a disclaimer before the programme.

 

The audience will have been wide. It might make more people think.

 

Remember "all publicity is good publicity"

 

And believe me I'm no supporter of this government, even as a right wing labour government they were far too red for me.

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did they mention f the alternative or did they make it sound like the hens were coming out ocages full stop?

 

I hope people realise that what the hens are getting instead is a pitiful substitute and that free range eggs are the ethical option.

 

Depends what spin they're putting on the story.

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Ok I'm going to pour water on this one, sorry.

 

Haven't we known about the 2012 ban now for quite some time :think:

A

xx

 

Yes we have Andrew, well I certainly have. It was featured in a book my Dad bought from the Eden project nearly two and a half years ago. TBH I don't think it's a worthy option and it gives more ammo to the people who will blatantly refuse to buy free range eggs.

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They showed some hens for barn eggs too but they only talked about battery being banned from 2012.

 

The farmer on there said it was totally unrealistic to expect them the re-house the hens in 5 years. Hmmmmm, all those hens will be dead or slaughtered long before 5 years is up so it's not "re-house" its introduce new systems.

 

Some sort of paralell implementation springs to mind (OK mind is back on work again. Not good).

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I do think that this is rather "convenient" timing. It basically makes the Government look like they are supporting HFW, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey, and lets face it, after Jamies success and their bad publicity over the school dinners saga they won't want a repeat of that. So they have chosen today (how convenient) to make these announcements that a) are nothing new, b) are really not as good as people will think - yes any change for the battery hen is a good one, but it will lie by omission and people will think that hens are being set free when in fact they are getting a marginally bigger cage, something to perch on and a very small nest area to fight over. They will still be in cages for the best part of a year, never seeing sunlight, never tasting grass, pulling out each others feathers with shortened beaks and then got rid of at 18 months old as a "no longer economically viable byproduct of the egg industry".

BUT, it has put it right in the faces of the average viewer, people have to choose to watch Chicken Run, millions more watch the news, particularly the BBC news, and loads of people still believe whatever the BBC tells them. But it might make a few more people think about their eggs, then hens that laid them and that can only be good. SO< after that long, waffly post, I'm glad it was on the news!! :lol:

 

 

Mrs Bertie

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I do think that this is rather "convenient" timing. It basically makes the Government look like they are supporting HFW, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey, and lets face it, after Jamies success and their bad publicity over the school dinners saga they won't want a repeat of that.

 

I totally agree if the gov will be given a bad name because of this then they WILL do something about it they all have to if they want their jobs... its still a liitle step though...

 

one small step for humuns but one giant leap for chickenkind :lol:

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