Talks between the Australian Egg Corporation and farmers could lead to the maximum number of hens per hectare increasing from 1,500 up to 20,000. Under the plan, the hen population of a free-range farm the size of Centennial Park could jump from 330,000 to 4.4 million.

 

Smaller farmers, outraged by the proposal, said the talks unfairly favoured the large-scale producers.

 

''It will install a factory system for free-range [eggs],'' said Phil Westwood, a spokesman for the Free Range Farmers Association. ''To call it free-range puts in the minds of consumers that the chooks are out in lush green grass and having a [great] time, but that's not the case.''

 

A Greens MP, John Kaye, is drafting a bill proposing a standardised definition for free-range. He said that even at current densities, the behaviour of chickens prevented all the hens from venturing out even if the door was open for eight hours a day. Increasing densities would only compound the problem. ''They're not free-range in the sense that the chickens can practically enjoy an outdoor area,'' he said.

 

The bill will also limit egg labelling to ''cage'' or ''free-range''.

 

A spokeswoman for the Egg Corporation, Jacqueline Baptista, said its survey of consumers about hen densities found on average 10,200 per hectare was an acceptable population. More than two-thirds also supported beak-trimming if it reduced pecking and cannibalism.

 

The Greens and the Free Range Farmers Association oppose beak-trimming.

 

Mr Westwood urged the Egg Corporation to adopt a tiered labelling system that would prevent eggs produced in high-density environments from being labelled ''free-range''.

 

He said terms such as ''intensive free-range'' or ''cage-free'' would be more appropriate.