The welfare of caged birds raised for commercial egg production in Queensland has been a controversial topic for approximately 30 years.

Animal welfare means different things to different people. While producers in the industry accept and adhere to the animal welfare code, QEFA members respect individuals' rights to view welfare in a behavioural context and in the context of opposing caged hen egg production. That is their right. That is also the reason why eggs produced under alternative production methods, barnyard and free-range, are commercially available.

However, it is also the right of Queensland's egg consumers, in particular low income families, the elderly and the underprivileged, to purchase eggs produced under the most economical and efficient methods.

Background to current industry production methods

Late 1950s/early 1960s

The Queensland Department of Primary Industries initiated an extensive campaign to persuade egg producers to move away from free range production and to adopt more modern, healthy, environmentally friendly caged bird production methods.

1984

First nationwide investigation of animal welfare in Australia - Formation of the Senate Select Committee on Animal Welfare. This committee reported in 1990.

July 1993

Agriculture Council of Australia and New Zealand (ACANZ) established a working group to review animal welfare in the egg industry.

August 1994

The Australian Egg Industry Association and RSPCA Australia agreed to form a working group to investigate ways to improve bird welfare in the egg industry. A package of 18 recommendations put forward by the ACANZ's working group. This package was endorsed by the Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand (ARMCANZ) in October 1994.

Recommendation 3 of the ACANZ working group's report stated that no attempt be made to ban or phase out caged bird egg production until research could prove that alternative production systems provide demonstrable welfare advantages which aren't offset by increased disease, increased requirements for medication or poorer working conditions for the bird handlers. There have been no significant research developments in this area since 1994.

1995

Queensland's commercial egg producers agreed to support animal welfare and management practices for domestic poultry stipulated in the Australian Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals. This code was prepared in February 1992 by the Sub-Committee on Animal Welfare (SCAW) of the Animal Health Committee within the (ARMCANZ) system. Membership of SCAW includes representatives from State Departments responsible for agriculture and/or animal welfare, CSIRO, Bureau of Resource Sciences and other committees within the ARMCANZ. The current code includes amendments recommended by ARMCANZ in 1994.

September 1997

The ACT Government's Minister for Urban Services, Brendan Smyth, M.L.A. called for a motion "to impose a ban on battery farming in the ACT". This motion was voted against, as a permanent exemption under mutual recognition legislation would have been required to allow any state by state prohibition to be enforced. Other state governments did not appear to support this action.

1998

NSW Government was advised by the Australian and New Zealand Food Authority that compulsory egg carton labelling requirements sought by Animal Liberation was rejected by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council as it may contravene an existing World Trade Organisation Agreement.

June 1999

Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) announced findings of research into the suitability of the Edinburgh Modified Cage (EMC) for use in Australia. RIRDC concluded that the EMC cage would not improve the welfare of laying hens in Australian conditions.

October 1999

Queensland's commercial egg producers agreed to assist egg consumers to choose their eggs according to their preferred production method. Egg cartons are clearly labelled to indicate whether the eggs were produced by caged birds, barn housed birds or free range methods. The consumer has the choice

March 2001

          ARMCANZ moved to increase the area for cage  

          birds to 550cm² by 2008, height should be at least 

          40cm.

Recognising the welfare implications arising from animal health, animal production, environmental (climatic), housing and genetic indicators, Queensland Department of Primary Industry researcher, Geoff Stewart, prepared the following diagram in 1984, providing a very useful overview of the complex nature of animal welfare as it relates to laying hens.

Welfare in perspective

Overall welfare is the sum of all the parts

Adapted verbatim and structurally from a diagram compiled by GD Stewart 1994

A more recent review having relevance to Australia is that of Barnett and Newman ("Review of Welfare Research in the Laying Hen and Management Implications for the Australian Egg Industry", Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 1997, Vol 48 pp 385-402). This comprehensive global review of scientific literature and research in progress since 1992 related to laying hen animal welfare and attempted to apply findings to Australian conditions. The review contributed to the prevailing view held in Australia that layer hen animal welfare incorporates a wide range of indicators beyond those associated with hen behaviour.

The QEFA believes this is reasonable, because egg production involves a broad range of factors including bird physiology, biological fitness, hen behaviour, environmental issues and flock management.

Barnett and Newman's report also notes (pp 385) that:

"....research on non-cage systems has been considerably less thorough, with a major emphasis being on solving practical problems rather than developing an understanding of some of the principles through a systematic, scientific approach. Although this may be understandable because of both the politics of apparent urgency and expense and time involved in researching non-cage systems, the end result is a dearth of reliable data...".

The same authors (ibid.) also note on page 385 that:

"It is important that welfare recommendations from overseas research and development are validated under Australian conditions to prevent compromising bird welfare".

Given the extremes of climatic and environmental conditions that apply in Queensland, the QEFA supports this recommendation.

All systems of egg production used in Queensland are subject to an ongoing process of continuous improvement driven by science and technology. Producers and their staff are becoming increasingly skilled and competent and have invested heavily to ensure that their flocks are housed and cared for under the best available methods.

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