At the Wintering Hills Hutterite colony near Drumheller, Alta., the laying hens are happier and so is colony member Paul Watson.
Since he opted in the late 1990s to install cages that offer 70 sq. inches of space per bird, Watson has seen increased egg production, lower mortality rates and better health in the colony’s 14,400 birds.
“We’ve seen a big difference,” said Watson, who manages the colony’s egg operations.
“In terms of production we’ve seen a five to six percent increase. The birds are healthier and the mortality is down by at least four to five percent.”
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The Wintering Hills colony was among the first producers in the province to exceed the Alberta Egg Producers’ code of practice that sets minimum cage sizes.
Six years ago, when the colony built its barn, the minimum cage size was 64 sq. inches per bird. Since then, the standard has increased to 67 sq. inches.
And while Watson’s barn still exceeds the current standard by nearly three inches, he has heard that some egg buyers are demanding greater space allocations.
Consumer demand, pressure from animal rights groups and increasingly stringent European Union standards are some of the reasons behind the push for larger cages.
“If you look at the future, I’m sure we’ll end up with 72 inches per bird and dust beds in the cages and everything else,” said Watson. “We won’t have a choice if we want to keep the consumers and the animal rights people happy. It’s the consumer that buys the eggs and we’ve got to give them what they want if we want to stay in business.”
Large multinational food companies like McDonald’s, Burger King, Safeway, Wendy’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken are monitored by animal interest groups, whose interests range from the abolition of all commercial livestock production, to the establishment of more humane standards for livestock production, handling, transportation and slaughter.
For example, McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest restaurant chain, is encouraging its egg suppliers to increase cage sizes to 72 sq. inches per bird.
It also wants North American egg and meat suppliers to stop debeaking chickens, to adopt more humane methods for catching and transporting broiler chickens, to eliminate the use of farrowing crates in hog production, and to stop using antibiotics as growth promoters.
McDonald’s announced the policies after it was targeted by animal rights protesters, who staged more than 400 demonstrations at franchises around the world beginning in 1999.
Susan Gal, general manager of the Alberta Egg Producers Board, said egg producers and the livestock industry in general are aware of the influence that animal activists and other interest groups can wield.
For that reason, the board has attempted to stay a step ahead of the curve by voluntarily adopting more rigid production standards.
“Our board has always been very proactive in dealing with animal welfare, food safety and environmental issues,” said Gal. “They are the three things that consumers are most concerned about and quite frankly, if you’ve addressed those issues, you’re a better producer and you’re delivering a higher quality product.”
