Alberta egg producers | Producers vote to ban conventional or enrichable cage systems after 2014 deadline
Alberta egg producers are changing the way laying hens are raised by switching to more open housing systems.
In a vote earlier this year, Egg Farmers of Alberta decided that producers who are raising hens in conventional cages will be able to continue but no new conventional or enrichable cage systems may be installed in Alberta after Dec. 31, 2014.
Enrichable systems are built with standard cages but can be enlarged and refitted with scratch pads, nests and other comforts at a future date.
“Farmers realize these (newer) systems have benefits. They also know they are more expensive and they know right off the bat they are not going to recover all their costs on the newer systems but they know they are doing the right thing,” said chair Ben Waldner.
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There are more than 150 members in the organization.
Waldner said no new barns built in recent years have installed conventional battery cages.
The Calgary Co-op grocery chain passed a resolution at its annual meeting last spring not to buy eggs from farms that use battery cages.
However, the farmers were already making changes on their own.
The new policy will be integrated into the egg farmers’ animal care policy, giving the board authority to regulate hen housing in Alberta.
The changes present a new way of doing things on the farms that usually keep about 11,000 birds, said Waldner, who raises laying hens at the Byemoor Colony in central Alberta.
The biggest change for producers will be monitoring birds to make sure they remain calm and do not fight or cause other behaviour problems.
“If we want to enhance the welfare of the hen all the way through, we really have to understand the behaviour of the birds,” he said.
For example, even though birds are vaccinated for common diseases at the hatchery, open barns could increase risks of spreading sicknesses.
Breeding companies have also selected birds that are calmer so they can adapt to these new systems, Waldner said.
Retooling a barn could cost about 25 percent more than a traditional system.
Farmers pay for the changeover, which Waldner said would take about 10 years to pay off.
“The main thing is we need to enhance the welfare of the animal, but we need to make sure producers still make a profit as well as enhance the welfare of the birds,” he said.
The national code of practice for laying hens is under revision by committees at the National Farm Animal Council and is expected to usher in more changes to how hens are housed and treated.
