Last week, Animals Aotearoa submitted against changes to the Layer Hen Code of Welfare that proposed cramming more hens into the same space and failed to phase out colony cages.
We were surprised to learn last month that the Government’s advisors on animal welfare, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is proposing to scrap the current two-tier stocking density system for hens farmed for eggs and replace it with a single, higher limit. It was announced seemingly out of the blue, although later we learnt it was after months of private consultation with the Egg Producers Federation and the Poultry Industry Association. Animal organisations were not consulted!
Locking in higher stocking densities
Right now, hens can be reared either in colony cages or in sheds, with or without outdoor access. Depending on which system is used, the maximum number of hens per square metre changes: 7 birds per m2 for indoor only and 9 birds per m2 if outdoor access is available. Well now, NAWAC wants to allow 9 birds per m2 across the board, regardless of whether hens ever see the outdoors. The justification? A hypothetical bird flu scenario.
It is one thing to prepare for an avian influenza outbreak. It is quite another to permanently weaken animal welfare standards based on a hypothetical one. We submitted opposing this change and calling on NAWAC to do better, not worse, for hens.
The science does not support it. The negative effects of increased stocking density are well established: more aggression and cannibalism between birds, poorer air quality, greater heat stress, and less space for hens to perform natural behaviours. Critically, for a change supposedly motivated by disease preparedness, higher stocking density actually increases the risk of infectious disease transmission. NAWAC’s own evaluation report acknowledges these adverse effects, yet the recommendation proceeded regardless.
Our submission argues that if a single stocking density must be adopted, it should be set at the lower level of 7 birds per square metre. When evidence is insufficient, as NAWAC argued, and animal welfare is at stake, you err on the side of less harm, not more.
A missed opportunity
This consultation was the first in over a decade for hens, and yet it didn’t even touch on the most horrific factory farming method: colony cages.
While conventional battery cages were finally phased out in 2022, colony cages still subject hens to many of the same restrictions.
Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria have all fully banned cages. Czechia will follow in 2027, and the European Commission has committed to a phase-out. Without a set end date for colony cages, New Zealand risks falling behind.
You can read our full submission on the proposed changes to the Code of Welfare for Layer Hens.