Poland wants to postpone the battery cage ban... Link to a campaign here...

[OllieC]

Poland wants to postpone the ban on battery caged rearing of chickens. This link gives a quick way to urge Jim Fitzpatrick MP, the Defra Minister responsible for animal welfare, to oppose the postponement & support the ban due to start in 2012.

http://www.chickenout.tv/polandban

[OllieC]

[grawrc]

I've signed up for that Ollie!

[betula]

Me too  :)

[Paulines7]

And me.

[Old bird]

Hi Ollie

Problem with this is that although the "ban" on cages will be taking effect here in England in 2012 or thereabouts - the chickens will be no better off than before.

They will be put in larger cages about 3 x the previous size - but and it is a major but they will have less space as they will put in more chickens.

So although Poland wants to postpone the battery cage ban - there will be as bad a situation for chickens here in England as there will be in Poland and it will be the case for the next however many years!

Old Bird

???

[manicscousers]

done, hope it makes a difference  :-\

[OllieC]

I didn't know that, OB, have you got a link to anything about it? I still think this is still a small step in the right direction though!

[Digeroo]

I am not convinced that putting several hens in a larger space is any better than putting one hen in a smaller one.  They will peck each other so end up loosing their beaks.  This is going to put the price of eggs up without helping the chickens.

[betula]

Ideally I would like to see all caged birds banned.

It is a filthy disgusting way to carry on and I would rather pay more for eggs. :(

[Pesky Wabbit]

Done. But if it causs the price of eggs to rise substantially, I will not be able to afford them.

[betula]

Well it is not good for you to eat too many.

Would rather not eat them at all if they were mega expensive........we would survive  :)

[tonybloke]

Done. But if it causs the price of eggs to rise substantially, I will not be able to afford them.

you'll have to cut down on the chocklit!!

[twave]

Old Bird is right. They are called enriched cages which basically means they're a bit bigger. Hens will get a bit more space, but it is still less than an A4 sheet of paper!

After a bit of digging around I found these articles. Wikipedia talks about EU legislation and Compassion in World Farming talks about the concerns about caged birds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_cage

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm_animals/poultry/egg_laying_hens/welfare_issues.aspx

I would still support the ban as a bit more space is better than nothing, but it doesn't go far enough. If you follow Ollie's link you can send an email from a template to the DEFRA Minister Jim Fitzpatrick. 168,623 sent so far... I wouldn't like to have his Inbox! You can modify the email to say what you want.

Better still, keep your own chickens!

[Pesky Wabbit]

Well it is not good for you to eat too many.

The ones laid by Kraft range chocolit hens - yes.  :(

The ones laid by regular free range/ battery hens - no, not according to current research.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7882850.stm  :)

[betula]

OK eat as many as you like then  ;D ;D ;D

[reddyreddy]

sent

[mat]

As much as I hate the system of keeping battery hens; I do wonder at why the UK keeps complaining about other countries actions... I wish we'd get ourselves sorted out first and "lead by example" rather than "do as we say rather than as we do"

As someone said, if those of us who can afford free range eggs bought them, then the demand would increase the supply... I am not working now, and back at college as a "extra mature" student, but even on student "wages" I insist on buying free range eggs and chicken... I'll buy cheap for some things, but not for them...

(I, many years ago, used to work in agricuture, the methods of keeping chickens appalled me at the time)


mat

[grawrc]

Wholeheartedly agree about buying free range. To be honest I'd rather go without than live with my conscience after eating those poor battery creatures. Apart from the fact the way they are reared probably means their nutritional value is dubious too.

As to the UK getting involved in other people's business I also agree but on this occasion I think the UK is acting as a member state of the EU - so appropriately. Unlike when we randomly invade other people's countries. Yes things here are certainly not rosy.

[shirlton]

We pay £1 for 6 free range eggs. this does us for 2 meals either scrambled or poached with acouple of slices of bread each that to me is a cheap lunch.

[Busby]

If each of us eat 1 egg per day - in one form or another (boiled, fried, in cakes, pastries, custard, and so on) and there are 60,000,000+ people in the UK, this means we need 420,000,000 eggs per week.

Where on earth do they all come from? I never see hundreds or thousands of chickens outside in the fields!