Flappy New Year!

 You might not have realised but something monumental happened at the stroke of midnight on December 31 2011.

There was no big countdown, no deafening fireworks display and no street parties but for hundreds of millions of hens across Europe life is looking a little brighter.


A barren battery cage



The modest sounding ‘Council Directive laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens’ means that farmers can no longer keep hens in cruel barren battery cages.



It’s certainly news to celebrate, it’s a step forward for animal welfare, but sadly the new legislation doesn’t ban all cages – farmers can still use so-called ‘enriched’ battery cages which give the hens a little bit more space, a perching area, a piece of Astroturf to scratch about on and a shared nesting area.



An 'enriched' battery cage - can you spot the difference?!

But it is still a metal battery cage and the hens still have less usable space per bird than an A4 sheet of paper – not nearly enough room to dash about, to rest without being jostled by other birds, or enjoy a good dustbath like barn or free-range hens.

I’ve got a soft spot for hens – my family used to have two gorgeous girls called Sam and Ella who laid the most delicious free-range eggs.

Before I joined the RSPCA I had heard about the ban and wrongly thought that it meant all cages would be outlawed, it appears I was not alone in being mistaken. A recent poll by the RSPCA revealed that 69 per cent of the public didn’t know what the new law meant, in fact 88 per cent hadn’t even heard about it.

Some, like me, guessed all cages were being banned, others thought hens would have to let out of their cages for four hours a day and some even believed that farmers would have to play music to their flocks.

Another sad fact about the new legislation is that a huge number of producers elsewhere in Europe are ignoring it and will still be using old barren battery cages.

A barmy loophole means those farmers can still sell their ‘illegal’ eggs to be used as ingredients despite the hens that laid them being kept in conditions below legal welfare standards.
Worryingly some of these illegal eggs could find their way into some of your favourite products like ice-cream, pasta and cakes.

To be completely sure you are not unwittingly buying illegal eggs, and at the same time doing your bit for the welfare of millions of hens, it’s never been more important to buy cage-free eggs, or food containing cage-free eggs as ingredients.

With Big Ben’s chimes still ringing in your ears there’s one very worthwhile resolution to make in 2012 ‘I will only buy cage-free eggs’.

For your free shopping guide log onto www.rspca.org.uk/eggs

Catherine Peerless, RSPCA Press Officer