Multi-tier “designed around the birds”
Multi-tier systems work because they satisfy the natural behaviour of hens, says Albert Jansen, the man behind one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of the very latest concept in layer housing.
And seeing the systems in operation first-hand were BFREPA council members John Widdowson and David Trick, who travelled to Holland earlier this month amid fears that introducing the system into the UK could damage the reputation of free range. As reported in the Ranger last month, concerns centre around how consumers will take to a development that allows more hens to be kept in a given size of building and whether they will view it simply as a further slide towards industrialised egg production.
But Albert Jansen—founder of Jansen Poultry Equipment—believes passionately that the system has been developed around satisfying the birds’ natural desire to move around different levels and this is the message that needs selling to consumers. It is not about squeezing more birds into a house.
“You cannot change the way the birds behave so perhaps it’s consumer perceptions you have to change by demonstrating to them that the system allows the opportunity for hens to behave naturally,” he told his guests from the UK.
And watching the hens move around the tiered levels it is clear that it is a function they perform with little effort. This, says Albert Jansen, is a result of training in the rearing period.
“We have been developing the system in Holland for eight years,” he said, “and it is essential that birds are reared in a similar environment where they quickly learn to move up and down the levels.
”We never provide food and water on the same level in the early stages of the birds’ life because there is a risk that the birds won’t move through the system. We have learnt from our early mistakes.”
While EU rules allow laying hens to be kept in houses with up to four levels above the ground floor, many Dutch producers have settled for only two or three, preferring not to have to clamber over equipment to view hens on the upper tiers. In the UK, the RSPCA have said they will only approve systems with a maximum of two levels.
Each level consists of a slatted floor underneath which is a manure belt for regular removal of droppings. Tough environmental rules in Holland mean that the manure has to be air-dried to reduce ammonia content. This is achieved by blowing re-cycled air across the manure from ducting running the length of the manure belt.
Once removed from the building the manure is loaded via elevators into containers ready to be shipped by lorry mainly to Germany. High livestock numbers and a small land area means Dutch farmers have little opportunity to spread manure on their homeland, but this disposal service lands them with a bill of around 20 euros a tonne (£14) and is another reason for removing as much moisture as possible.
The ground floor of a multi-tier house is covered in litter and, generally speaking, litter quality tends to be good. With the height of the bottom tier only 600mm above the ground and the litter extending beneath it, there is a potential for floor eggs. But bright lighting above this area discourages birds from laying there and the producers visited reported no real problems. The overhead platforms are sloped so that any floor eggs roll to the front and can be easily collected.
In the evening a stepped lighting sequence ensures the birds are drawn onto the higher levels to roost. But producers also have to contend with natural light entering the house, for under the KAT assurance scheme—which is commonplace throughout Holland and Germany—windows have to be fitted in the outside wall at a rate equal to three per cent of the ground floor area.
Many houses are also fitted with red lights which can be switched on if pecking becomes a problem. Birds are beak trimmed at ten days of age to a standard similar to that practiced in the UK. Production levels appeared good as did mortality levels.
Depopulation from multi-tier systems is not reported as being a problem and birds are taken off the tiers and carried to the crates under blue lighting. Dutch producers are still receiving the equivalent of 12p for end-of-lay hens.
The latest in egg production equipment is not solely reserved for the hens and farm packers are a common site in the Netherlands, even on bird numbers where such a move would be considered uneconomic in the UK. A new six thousand bird organic house still under construction was viewed and visitors learnt that it too would be fitted with a packer.
Yes to Barn but question mark over free range
Despite seeing the best that Holland could offer, association representatives were still left undecided as to whether multi-tier houses were suitable for free range.
“I’m convinced the system is absolutely right for barn egg production,” said former BFREPA chairman David Trick, who sits on the RSPCA’s laying hen working group.
“Barn eggs have caught the imagination of consumers in Holland and Germany in a way that hasn’t happened in the UK and they appear less concerned about free range.”
Even the barn egg producers interviewed in Holland didn’t view free range with any enthusiasm, describing the risk of disease, poor production and cold winter temperatures as a reason to keep the barn door firmly closed.
“Equipment manufacturers in Europe who do not share our concerns about the need for birds to range must view our reluctance to embrace their latest technology with a degree of frustration,” said David. “But here in the UK free range commands an enviable position in the egg market and it’s a position that has been built around consumer perception.
“We mustn’t throw that away and if I thought that multi-tier systems would in any way hinder the birds’ ability to range I would vote against them tomorrow. But with sensible consideration by manufacturers I believe they could design layouts that may be acceptable in the UK.”
