Peacocks

[Guest]

some of you might not see this thread so I'm popping a link to it in here, if you'd like to see a seperate section within these forums for discussion/help/advice or just general chit chat about the BHWT and/or your ex batts then go here and vote via the poll at the top

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16094

 

cheers

[Gallina]

What will happen to the BHWT after next year, I wonder? Will it be bringing in French battery hens?

 

You did all see the good news on Saturday about the banning of battery cages in the UK after next year, did you? (Unfortunately in the rest of Europe it will take longer: up to ten years.)

 

Or is it too good to be true? I read it in The Times, but couldn't quite believe it.

[Guest]

hi Gallina, the link you posted is from 1999.

 

As far as I am aware (and I would love to be corrected) the ban isn't coming into force until 2012 and it's under threat because of objections from farmers across The Channel.

 

Also, strictly speaking it's not really a ban. Battery cages are being phased out in favour of so called "Enriched Cages".

 

'Enriched' cages

 

The proposed replacement for battery cages is the 'enriched cage', which is slightly bigger and taller than a battery cage and will contain some 'furniture' such as a shared perch and nest box, plus litter and a claw-shortening device. However, a cage is still a cage, despite these changes, and the caged hens will still be denied the ability to exercise their instincts and fulfil their natural needs.

 

The actual usable space allotted to each bird in an enriched cage will be 600 cm² - in effect the increase in space the hens will have is equivalent to the size of a postcard. Furthermore, consider that the average hen at rest occupies 600 sq. cm (Dawkins & Nicol, 1989) - enriched cages, therefore, still only offer the absolute minimum space required by a hen lying down.

 

The introduction of enriched cages also has the potential to create further welfare problems for the hens on top of those already associated with being kept in such intense captivity. Due to the severely restricted space they are confined to, the birds are already in constant contact with each other and the sides of the cage, the addition of furniture gives them another obstacle to brush up against. Feather loss is generally worse in cages due to a combination of abrasion from mesh and feather pecking (Appleby & Hughes, 1991; Rollin, 1995). Indeed, the provision of furniture actually carries the disadvantage of increasing the amount of potential abrasive surfaces and obstacles to free movement in the birds' environment.

 

Problems such as feeding birds being scratched by the claws of perching birds and build-up of droppings under perches indicate the problems of introducing 'enrichment' in a confined space (Walker, 2001).

 

It is a travesty that one cage system is going to replace another, but egg producers are desperate to keep their production costs down - to keep the consumers happy - and caging birds is, unfortunately, the most economical way of rearing them.

 

 

source http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/factory/ALL/578/

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Like I say, I would LOVE to be proved wrong.

 

Anyone?

[Gallina]

Sorry, I was looking for a link to match what I read in the paper on Saturday, and chose one too quickly (as usual), trying to get ready for work.

 

Here is a better link to Saturday's news.

 

So is it 2012 for the UK too?

[Guest]

So is it 2012 for the UK too?

 

that's what the new link you posted says but as I say, it's under threat.

 

you can help by signing this

 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/14/support-the-eu-ban-on-battery-cages