ADAS has been helping inspectors from the Animal Health Agency in Great Britain to develop an effective and consistent approach to inspections that check whether enriched cage systems for laying hens meet all the requirements of EU Council Directive 1999/74*. Similar procedures could be developed or used by egg producers (to give ‘peace of mind’ assurance on legislative compliance), by inspectors in other countries and in other situations where legislative compliance is determined by measurement and calculation. ADAS consultant Jason Gittins explains more.
Conventional cages for laying hens will cease to be permitted after the end of this year and egg producers have been investing in new systems to ensure that the UK remains largely self-sufficient in eggs in future. This has led to expansion in the free range sector and also to investment in enriched cage systems designed to meet the latest EU requirements. At the start of 2012, there are expected to be between 12 and 14 million enriched cage places in the UK.
Whilst concerns remain about the ability of some other EU Member States to achieve full compliance with the requirements of the Directive in 2012, most would agree that the UK authorities should continue to enforce the high welfare standards expected by many consumers in this country in a thorough and consistent way.
In order to comply with the Directive, enriched cages must provide at least 750cm² of cage area per hen. There are additional requirements for minimum cage height, maximum floor slope, provision of perching and access to feed. Precise measurements must therefore be made, followed by a series of calculations to determine if a system is compliant or not.
This can be a complex and time-consuming process and the need for a consistent approach is paramount. In practice there can be significant difficulties. For example, some enriched cages incorporate air ducts within the bird area. These provide important environmental benefits (reducing ammonia levels in particular) but the area that they occupy within the system is not available to the hens. It must therefore be subtracted from what is referred to as ‘the useable area’.
In conjunction with Defra, the Animal Health Agency, as the body responsible for the enforcement of the legislation contracted ADAS to develop specialist software to support their inspection activities. This enables inspectors to easily calculate whether an enriched cage is compliant with the legislation and if so, the maximum number of birds that can be stocked. Figure 1 shows the first part of the Enriched Cage Verification Software.
Figure 1.
The software development was backed-up by training workshops for inspectors, which included a practical session using a typical enriched cage system. All inspectors now follow the same approach to the collection of measurements and other data and these are entered into the software programme, following a series of ‘prompt’ questions. Finally, the software calculates compliance and the maximum number of birds that can legally be stocked. If necessary, the software can also be used to assess the implications of changed assumptions and proposed scenarios.
The major benefits to the Agency of this approach are time savings and greater consistency. Individual producers can also be confident that enriched cages are being assessed correctly and to a consistent standard.
For further information please contact Jason Gittins on 01938 580167 or email Jason.gittins@adas.co.uk.
*Council Directive 1999/74/EC of 19 July 1999 laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens.