Hen welfare is a complex issue - but genuine free range comes out on top

Professor Christine Nicol of Bristol University in the UK has written about the media misrepresentation of some of her work on hen welfare issues. Some news outlets here in Australia were guilty of publishing misleading information.

She says there has been a good deal of media coverage about the relative merits of enriched cage and free-range egg production.

'Some,' she says 'reached the simple conclusion that enriched cages are better for hen welfare than free range. Others have argued the opposite'.

She argues that in a comprehensive study comparing four different housing systems, hens in enriched cages had lower mortality and fewer problems relating to disease, pecking injuries and skeletal health than hens in any other system. However, in terms of bird welfare, enriched cage can never provide birds with the full freedom to perform behaviours that matter to them.

'In this respect the free-range system has the edge. More so than any alternative, the free-range system has the potential to meet both the physical and the behavioural needs of the birds', Professor Nicol says.

Full details of the UK report here:

http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/12/12/2013/142106/free-range-can-be-better-if-issues-are-addressed.htm

Poultry scientist says her comments on hen welfare were 'misconstrued'

Poultry scientist Professor Christine Nicol from Bristol University sparked widespread controversy in the UK and overseas when a speech she made resulted in newspaper reports claiming that cage hens enjoyed better welfare than free range birds.

She said her speech had been misconstrued. Professor Nicol said that she agreed to appear on a panel of scientists explaining some of the more complex issues about farm size. During an hour-long briefing she said she mentioned that birds on very large farms could have rather good welfare outcomes on some measures. But, she said she could not prevent headlines like 'Cage hens are happier than free range' in the Daily Telegraph and 'Organic isn't better than factory farmed' in the Daily Mail. Even the BBC reported that, 'Welfare standards are on average higher in laying hens kept in cages than in free range flocks, according to a leading veterinary expert.'

Professor Nicol is well known in the poultry industry. Her team at Bristol has conducted research studies on laying birds, including current trials on beak trimming.

Her speech, at an event about the merits of large scale farming organised by the Science Media Centre, came just over a week after Elwyn Griffiths, chairman of the British Egg Products Association (BEPA), stood up at the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference to say that intensive egg production offered the highest level of hen welfare.