Extra perches north of the border
Producers in Scotland are having to supply a full 15 cm of aerial perch for every hen as a result of the Scottish Executive's interpretation of the EU welfare rules.
BFREPA member Giles Henry, who farms near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, has already been visited by a veterinary officer from the animal health division of SERAD (Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department) and told he must fit aerial perches in his 2,000 bird house.
"This can be done at depletion but the new house we are building has to be done before the birds are housed or I was told I will not be able to sell the eggs," said Giles, who believes the move is unnecessary from a bird welfare point of view.
"What this will do is fill the house with obstacles and make it difficult for the birds and myself to move about, " said Giles, who told the Ranger that when his flock is first coming into lay he walks the shed every hour. "This task will now prove difficult because of the barrier created by the perches."
While he is resigned to having to fit the perches, which will consist of 300 metres of galvanised tubing, Giles has his doubts whether the birds will take advantage of the new structure.
"We already have an alighting rail in front of the nest yet if you look in the house at night there are very few birds roosting on it and instead they choose to huddle together in groups on the floor."
Association vice-chairman John Widdowson has written to the authorities in Scotland expressing BFREPA's concern at the decision to insist on aerial perching.
"Here in England we argued successfully with Defra that the inclusion of such a high level of aerial perching would cause problems both for the birds and the stockman because of the amount of 'furniture' required," wrote John.
"We felt this would hinder bird movement around the house; cause obstacles into which the birds may fly into, leading to injury; create harbourages for red mite; and hinder the movement of the stockperson around the building making bird inspection difficult."
John went on: "There is very little evidence to suggest that the birds actually use this amount of perching when available, many preferring to roost on the floor in groups. As a result of our concerns, Defra officials have accepted that some of the required perching space can be provided by perches incorporated into the slatted floor."
John is yet to receive a reply from SERAD but he believes it is unlikely that they will alter their stance.
"In fact what is most worrying is that I fear we could be heading for a similar situation here in England and Wales," said John, who has been told by a Defra official that following a recent EU audit which looked at how the welfare directive had been implemented in member states, there was concern over the interpretation of the perching rules.
"The threat is that the pragmatic approach adopted by Defra may well be overruled during a review of the directive which is planned for next year."
The 15 cm of perch rule applied to all new or rebuilt systems from 1 January 2002 while systems in operation prior to this date have until January 2007 to comply.
