UK free range egg production welfare standards amongst some of the best in the world

Prof Christine Nicol
Prof Christine Nicol

Despite the hype this week where comments from a conference about intensive farming were taken out of context, it is worth pointing out that UK free range egg production has some of the highest welfare standards in the world.

Poultry scientist Professor Christine Nicol sparked widespread controversy when a speech resulted in national newspaper reports claiming that cage hens enjoyed better welfare than free range birds.

The Bristol University professor, whose team has conducted a large number of research studies on laying birds, including current trials on beak trimming, responded to the coverage by saying that her speech had been misconstrued, although she could not prevent headlines like 'Cage hens are happier than free range' in the Telegraph and 'Organic isn't better than factory farmed' in the Mail. Even the BBC reported that, 'Welfare standards are on average higher in laying hens kept in cages than in free range flocks, according to a leading veterinary expert.'

Coincidentally, Christine Nicol's speech, at an event about the merits or large scale farming organised by the Science Media Centre, came just over a week after Elwyn Griffiths, director of Oaklands Farm Eggs and chairman of the British Egg Products Association (BEPA), stood up at the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference to say that intensive egg production offered the highest level of hen welfare.

The claim that cage hens enjoyed a better life than free range birds was, of course, immediately dismissed by the British Free Range Egg Producers' Association (BFREPA), which issued a statement saying, "Free range hens have the freedom of expressing normal behaviour outside in the natural environment but are at greater risk from predation, disease and injury from flying into obstacles. While these welfare outcomes are compromised by living outside, they are more than made up by being able to forage in a natural environment in the fresh air."

Thirty free range farms across the country have volunteered to be part of a Noble Foods pilot scheme, planting two acres of wildflowers on the range.
Thirty free range farms across the country have volunteered to be part of a Noble Foods pilot scheme, planting two acres of wildflowers on the range.

The suggestion that cage production was higher welfare was also ridiculed by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), which said, "The welfare potential of these cages will never be as high as free range systems. Compassion believes that laying hens should be able to perform all of their natural behaviours, including stretching and flapping their wings, perching up high, foraging, scratching, dust bathing and laying their eggs in a comfortable nest. Only free range and organic systems can provide fully for all of these behaviours."

Christine Nicol was clearly dismayed at the coverage her speech produced. She told the Ranger, "It certainly was unintended and I never said that caged birds had higher overall welfare than free range."

She said that she agreed to appear on a panel of scientists explaining some of the more complex issues about farm size. During an hour-long briefing she said she mentioned that birds on very large farms could have rather good welfare outcomes on some measures. "Of course I mentioned that farms that kept 40,000 hens or more generally kept them in enriched cages. That led, unexpectedly, into a discussion of the media's choosing, not my own. However, I didn't make the data up - it is true that mortality, keel fractures, pecking and other problems occur at much higher prevalences on free range farms," she said.

Happy egg producers have to produce up to standards that far exceed most of the national accreditation schemes
Happy egg producers have to produce up to standards that far exceed most of the national accreditation schemes

The statistics on mortality, keel bone fractures and pecking are from research conducted in 2010 by the School of Veterinary Science at Bristol University. Despite the results of this research, she said she told journalists at the Science Media Centre event that free range still provided the best opportunity for high welfare in laying birds.

"My own view is that free range systems still offer the best potential for good welfare if these problems can be solved. I made that point many times to the journalists but only some picked it up. I also explained how hard different groups are working to improve conditions but that didn't seem to be news."

Christine said that there were "some uncomfortable and inconvenient but real issues" that free range producers needed to address. "I rather wish they didn't, but they do. I won't go into them all here but will say that I am not convinced that the ability to do natural behaviour offsets the health and injury risks that free range hens sustain, as suggested by the BFREPA media release. I don't think consumers have the slightest idea about the scale of these problems or the actual levels of mortality, fractures, pecking and disease that we find. I think consumers expect free range birds to be in good physical condition as well as having options to do a range of behaviours," she said.

But BFREPA said in its statement that many free range producers were exceeding RSPCA standards so that their hens had the highest possible welfare standards in a natural environment. It said, "Hens in free range systems have the freedom to express natural behaviour which is not fully possible in other systems." The association said that trying to compare free range and cage production was like comparing apples with pears.

Most free range egg producers go far and above what is expected of them by many of the leading accreditation groups. Brands such as happy eggs have welfare standards and accreditation levels that many continental egg producers would find hard to match. On top of this schemes such as the Woodland Scheme which encourages the planting of trees on the range and Noble Foods very own Wild Flower planting schemes are not required by law but are highly regarded not just for the welfare of the birds but also for the good of the environment. Something caged production cannot put claim to.

Once the wildflower meadow is fully established it will provide a natural link for the hens between two plantings of trees and will encourage better ranging whilst providing natural cover.

BFREPA's director of policy, Robert Gooch, said he was "very disappointed" with the newspaper reports. He also said he thought Christine Nicol could have thought more carefully about what she said. "Everyone should be very careful about what they say when the media are present. They should know that it is possible to be misconstrued," he said.

Robert said that birds that were free to roam outside would clearly be at more risk from disease and injury, but he said no-one could sensibly believe that birds kept in cages enjoyed a better standard of life than free range birds.

The notion of high welfare cages was also rejected by Philip Lymbery, CEO of CIWF, who said, “An enriched cage offers small improvements on the old battery cage but fails to provide for important natural behaviours. A cage is still a cage. I urge consumers to buy free range or organic eggs in order to give hens a better quality of life.”

In a subsequent blog, he said that last year's European Union ban on battery cages had simply resulted in hens being kept in slightly larger cages. He said that in "so called enriched, or colony, cages" each hen had only a little more floor space than a sheet of A4 paper.

He said, "In a free range farm the hen lives in a house where she spends the night and there are proper nest boxes in which she can be quiet and comfortable while laying. All day she can roam outside at will, flap and stretch her wings, have a little fly, forage and scratch in the soil or have a dust bath to clean her feathers. In the best farms there will be plenty of trees or bushes, so she can shelter under them if she notices an aerial predator like a hawk."

He said, "Of course there are poorly managed farms of any type. The fair thing is to compare the best of each system. A well run free range or organic farm gives each hen the potential for a decent quality of life. A well managed cage system can never offer this. So please join the wise consumers who are happy to pay a little more for their free range or organic eggs, knowing that each time they do, some hens, somewhere, are leading a happier life."

The British Egg Industry Council issued a statement in response to the controversy, in which it said that the most important factor in ensuring the welfare of hens was how they were cared for, whatever system of production was used.

"Good stockmanship is paramount to hens’ health and wellbeing," it said. "In order to ensure that eggs come from hens that have the highest standards of welfare, consumers should look for a recognised quality assurance mark on the pack. Schemes such as Freedom Food or the British Lion mark not only ensure the welfare of the hens, but also ensure that the people looking after them are trained to give the hens the best possible care and attention."

Christine Nicol told the Ranger that she intended to take time to "think about what I really want to come out of this unexpected situation." She said that she would at some point produce an article, not for the public, that summarised the evidence, along with her own thoughts about what should be done in the future.

Here are some interesting facts about Free Range hens:

Free range hens can go outside whenever they want during the day.

Independent research has shown that 80% of hens leave the house frequently. Only 8% do not leave the house.

Hens are shut up at night to protect them from predators and keep them warm

During the day they are able to carry out normal behaviours outside such as dust-bathing, scratching and foraging

Like us, hens don’t like going outside when it is cold, wet or windy

Independent research has shown that birds leave the house less during winter than summer, and during windy or wet days as compared to still or sunny days

Farmers are planting trees close to the hen houses to provide hens with more shelter and to let them feel safe from predators

Hens eat more during cold weather and their food and water is provided in their house

The welfare of the hens is audited and approved by the RSPCA’s Freedom Foods Scheme

RSPCA’s Freedom Food scheme inspects most free range egg farms with routine and random visits

RSPCA welfare standards insist that the hens “must have continuous daytime access to the range”

The range (the outside area) is actively managed to encourage hens to the use the area fully, to comply with RSPCA standards.