At the same time, American Humane Certified announced that the colony housing system meets its animal welfare standards and provided certification for the barn reports continue. However, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) said colony housing is still cage housing and, therefore, is unacceptable to the organisation, which will only support cage-free housing.

 

J.S West & Co. is based in Modesto, California, and serves markets in northern California. The colony barn is located on the West farm in Livingston, California.

 

Tim Amlaw, director of the American Humane Certified program and VP of the American Humane Association, said an enriched colony, based on "reason- and science-based evaluation," is a humane system for housing hens and producing eggs for the marketplace. He said West has received the American Humane Certified seal for the Livingston colony.

 

West has 1.8 million hens in production on three farms in two counties, with 150,000 hens housed in the Livingston colony.