In article , Nospam@invalid
says...

On Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:22:25 +0000, Chris Hogg wrote:


Janet.

And according to the BBC reports of a few days ago, many EU countries
are simply ignoring the directive. Typical!

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16047967

and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15731320

and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16112149

for more detail.

And if the UK refuses to import battery eggs, we'll probably fall foul
of some other EU directive about free trade so UK egg producers who
have to comply with the directive will suffer in every direction.
Particularly as the companies that produce things with eggs in them
will still, no doubt, source at the cheapest price.

The local Co-op supermarket stopped stocking battery eggs some time
ago and sells free range eggs at the price other supermarkets charge
for battery eggs. I don't know if it's psychological but to me free
range eggs taste better and I think the slightly paler yokes are the
result of no additives in the hens' food.

But what I don't understand is that if 300,000 battery hens face
slaughter then, to produce the same number of eggs, another 300,000+
hens will need to be bought.

The producers have to empty thousands of hens out of the old cages, take
the cages out of the sheds and install new
complaint cages. Where do you park thousands of hens meanwhile, in the
middle of winter? It's too stressful for the birds.

Why cannot battery hens be converted to
free range which, presumably, is what people who adopt them will do?

You've never seen a battery hen? They are partially bald, have very weak
legs, have spent their life tightly caged in dim light and very warm
conditions. They don't even know how to make their way to a drinker or
feeder because all their life, it's been under their beak. If you put them
outdoors in January it would be cruel; they would die of starvation,stress
and exposure.

Years back when Edwina Curries wrecked the egg industry overnight we
took on some doomed ex-batteries. It took weeks before they grew feathers
and got strong enough to walk around all day like freerange hens do.
During that time they had to live in a shed doing chicken rehab.

Janet