The European Union’s food watchdog recommends that farmers slow the growth of chickens, stop housing hens in cages and stock fewer birds to improve conditions for poultry.
(Bloomberg) — The European Union’s food watchdog recommends that farmers slow the growth of chickens, stop housing hens in cages and stock fewer birds to improve conditions for poultry.
The European Food Safety Authority issued the guidance in two separate reports as the bloc moves toward its Farm to Fork strategy, which calls for improving animal welfare. It adds to similar proposals for pig farming last year and comes as livestock production across the continent shrinks from disease outbreaks and lofty feed and energy costs.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, requested the studies. It plans to revise its animal welfare laws in line with the latest science by the end of the year.
For chickens raised for meat, growth should be capped at 50 grams (1.8 ounces) a day to keep birds healthy and active, the EFSA said. Egg-laying hens shouldn’t be housed in cages and beak-trimming — used to prevent pecking injuries — should be phased out, as it isn’t necessary if good management practices are used, it added.
The agency also called for birds to have access to “covered verandas,” to promote foraging and vary conditions in the daytime. That could prove more difficult as Europe grapples with an unprecedented outbreak of avian influenza, which has killed tens of millions of poultry and forced birds indoors in some countries. Egg-laying hens have been hard hit, sending retail costs soaring.
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