December 26, 2025

 

UK looking to end use of hen cages in England

 

The UK government is planning to end the use of hen cages as part of a raft of proposals to improve animal welfare standards in England.

 

The measures also include moving away from the use of pig farrowing crates, which contain sows during birth and nursing to stop them rolling over onto their young.

 

The National Farmers' Union said laws should also require imports to be produced to the same standards to prevent unfair competition for British farmers.

 

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the package of reforms, which include banning trail hunting and puppy farming, was "the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation", but the Conservatives said it showed Labour did not care about rural Britain.

 

The government aims to implement the new strategy by 2030.

 

"We've already acted to improve zoo standards, end puppy smuggling and protect livestock from dog attacks. Now, we're planning to ban caged hens, cruel snares, trail hunting, and curb low welfare dog breeding," Reynolds said.

 

The new animal welfare strategy said it would "transition to non-cage systems and consult on phasing out enriched 'colony' cages" - which contain multiple chickens. It added that it would work with the farming industry to "explore how to transition away from the use of farrowing crates to alternative systems".

 

As well as ending "confinement systems", the government is looking at outlawing controversial so-called "Frankenchickens" - a term used by animal welfare campaigners to describe fast-growing breeds.

 

Anthony Field, head of Compassion in World Farming UK, said the government was "raising the bar for farmed animal welfare".

 

Conventional battery cages for individual hens are already banned in the United Kingdom, where the RSPCA said an estimated 80% of hens are free range.

 

The RSPCA's head of public affairs, David Bowles, said removing the final 20% of hens from cages should not pose a "massive commercial problem".

 

NFU President Tom Bradshaw urged the government to ensure imported food was not produced at a lower standard than would be legal in the UK.

 

He warned that this would lead to British farmers facing unfair competition from cheaper goods around the world.

 

"If we don't implement the changes that we want to have in our production systems here within our import standards, then all we do is export our industry overseas," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

 

The Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it "will not lower food standards and will uphold high animal welfare standards as part of our approach to trade". It added that it will "always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage and any impact that may have".

 

The National Pig Association said it would be "following the next steps closely" on farrowing crates and was itself looking towards more flexible systems.

 

The British Poultry Council have been approached by the BBC for comment.

 

- BBC