October 20, 2020

 

The not-so-simple matter of chicken welfare

 

 

As far as poultry is concerned in British trade, the biggest worry is that chlorinated chicken -- specifically those from the United States -- might enter the United Kingdom and erode its food standards.

 

Campaigners fear that the Boris Johnson government could allow those products a pass via a new trade deal with the US. To alleviate public concerns, UK supermarkets have declared that selling chlorinated chicken meat is out of the question.

 

Yet, despite Prime Minister Johnson's assurance of protecting food standards, the rejection of an amendment to the Agriculture Bill -- that would have forced trade deals to comply with animal welfare and food standards rules -- in the UK Parliament in October would only intensify anxieties.

 

Away from the bustle of London and in the quieter parts of the UK, angry voices arose in recent times -- this time, against local poultry farms on environmental and/or animal welfare grounds.

 

In August, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claimed a poultry plant, that would set up in Ceredigion, Wales, and house up to 110,000 chickens, would cause "immense suffering" to birds while ammonia from chicken waste can negatively impact air quality and wildlife.

 

In October, a chicken supplier of groceries retailer Tesco was implicated in an allegation of poor animal welfare following the release of footage showing lame chickens unable to walk or stand up at the farm in the city of Gloucester.

 

In the same month, PETA protested the establishment of four chicken sheds capable of housing more than 37,000 birds in the north of Kelso, Scotland.

 

These events are set against the backdrop of a global paradigm shift in which chicken producers are motivated, encouraged or even forced to go cage-free in the not-so-distant future.

 

In that direction, some progress has been made - for instance, 67 million hens in the US were cage-free last year compared with 17 million in 2014, according to an  Open Philanthropy report. That's apparently 20% of the national flock.

 

Even then, some suppliers and their clients struggle to keep their cage-free pledges. Major US egg producers doubted most hens would be cage-free by 2025, according to a WATT Global Media survey.

 

So, how about the UK?

 

Data have shown a significant expansion in both free-range and housed hens since 2017, leading to 27 million and 26 million respectively by January this year.

 

But the expansions are without consequences; following a report on the impact of retailer cage-free 2025 commitments, the British Free Range Egg Producers Association warned that the current rate of the free-range egg sector's expansion could result in a glut and reduce farmers' profitability.

 

Additionally, two other issues underscore the complexities of managing animal welfare.

 

In the aspect of sustainability, animal welfare has taken too much attention away from other important factors, specifically, food security, affordability, food quality and safety, as expressed by Joy Mench, professor emeritus in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, in a 2017 interview at a conference in Belgium.

 

Another factor may relate to the free-range oversupply that the UK egg sector fears.  

 

"You can produce products as sustainably as possible from the perspectives of economic efficiency, worker health and safety, the environment and animal welfare… but if consumers and customers won't purchase those products, then the system is not sustainable in the sense that the producer cannot make a profit," Mench added.

 

In the aspect of animal welfare itself, is free-range the best solution for chickens' well-being? Apparently, with birds granted more freedom of movement, new challenges emerge - keel bone problems among hens being a chief concern.

 

One research suggested that about one-quarter to one-third of caged birds will have keel bone damage, but the injury rate is upward of half of cage-free chickens, Michael Toscano, a scientist from the Center for the Proper Housing: Poultry and Rabbits at the University of Bern, told The Washington Post. The issue was attributed to multiple objects within cage-free aviaries providing obstacles that moving birds could bump into.

 

A 2015 study also found cage-free aviaries to have the highest mortality.

 

Nevertheless, Toscano held that cage-free systems are best for chicken welfare but producers making the switch might experience "a very steep learning curve" to mitigate problems. 

 

With all that said, going cage-free is still within reach even if it is not achievable by the 2025 deadline producers have vowed to meet.

 

Moreover, the disruption of the global economy by COVID-19 should not justify putting animal welfare at the backseat. But the future of chickens' well-being demands a more holistic and pragmatic approach.

 

- Terry Tan, eFeedLink