Major win for animal welfare groups as popular item to be phased out

Australian chickens will no longer be cooped up in barren battery cages after a lengthy battle was won by animal welfare groups.

Egg-laying chooks will be free of barren, wire wages as of 2036 following a historic decision by the Independent Poultry Welfare Panel.

The board, commissioned by agriculture ministers across the country in 2019, released the reform on Thursday after seven years of negotiations with the poultry industry.

Egg producers will now be required to install nest areas in all new chicken cages from this year and provide layer hens with access to perches, platforms and a scratch area.

Conventional layer hen cages are also set to be ditched in the next 10 to 15 years depending on how long an egg producer’s infrastructure has been in play.

RSPCA Australia chief executive Richard Mussell called the step a “significant win for animal welfare”.

“This is a win for animal advocates and for the community who have been calling for an end to these barren, wire cages for over 40 years,” Mr Mussell said.

“But most importantly, it will eventually be a win for the millions of layer hens confined to battery cages.”

Mr Mussell said the ban would “bring Australia into line with over 75 per cent of OECD countries”.

While it might seem like a long wait for animal lovers, he said, “there’s no reason that we need to wait until 2036 – states and territories can implement a phase out ahead of schedule”.

Rochelle Flood from World Animal Protection called out the 2036 deadline as “simply not good enough”.

“While it is encouraging that the government have finally made an announcement after seven years of review, they can, and must, do better,” Ms Flood said.

“Already, during the seven years of the review, 35 million hens were made to suffer in conventional battery cages. Up to 55 million more hens could be forced to live in cages until 2036.”

The changes mean cage systems installed in 2011 must be updated by July 1 2032, while cages installed after 2014 must meet the new requirements by 2036.

Recommendations for ducks and meat chickens were also given under the guidelines.

If adopted, farmers would be required to provide access to bathing water for ducks and stick to outlined “environmental enrichments” for meat chickens, including ventilation, minimum light intensity, periods of darkness and temperature parameters.