Scottish Government

THE EC EGG MARKETING AND ANIMAL WELFARE REGULATIONS EXPLANATORY LEAFLET:
Poultry Rearing Methods - Cage, Barn, Free Range, or Organic.

EMR14 (June 2004)

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CONTENTS

Introduction
Why have minimum criteria been set?
What do the minimum criteria cover?
Records
Stamping

1. INTRODUCTION

This leaflet describes the minimum criteria to be met by poultry enterprises marketing 'Eggs from caged hens', 'Free Range eggs' and 'Barn eggs'. The criteria are set out in The Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002 and in an annex to Commission Regulation EEC 1651/01. This leaflet should be read with the general explanatory leaflet EMR1. Also described is the minimum criterion for the production of 'Organic eggs' (Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999). This leaflet is not a complete and authoritative statement of law. If you wish to know more about egg production and The Welfare of Laying hens, you should refer to the regulations above.

2. WHY HAVE MINIMUM CRITERIA BEEN SET?

For improved Animal Welfare and to avoid confusion amongst consumers and the trade. The European community felt it was necessary to establish some controls on the production and marketing of eggs and therefore introduced minimum production criteria for those eggs.

3. WHAT DO THE MINIMUM CRITERIA COVER?

Only four methods of production terms may be used on packs and eggs:

Their use is restricted to eggs produced by enterprises which meet the following criteria.

3.1 Eggs from caged hens

Until 31 December 2011 the following provisions apply to all existing unenriched caged systems:

• Stocking density:

  • each hen must have at least 550cm ² of usable cage area

• Construction:

  • at least 40cm high over at least 65% of the cage area and not less than 35cm at any point

• Slope:

  • must not exceed 14% or 8 degrees

• Feeders:

• • an unrestricted food trough of at least 10cm per hen must be provided

• Drinkers:

  • either a continuous drinking channel of at least 10cm per hen

  • at least 2 nipple drinkers or cups within reach of each cage

• Claw Shorteners:

  • Cages must be fitted with suitable claw shortening devices

All newly built cage systems must be of an enriched type (Note: these are the only cage systems allowed after January 1, 2012), for which the following provisions apply:

• Stocking density:

  • each hen must have at least 750 cm ² of cage area

  • 600cm ² of which shall be usable

  • the remaining 150cm ² must have a height of over 20cm

  • no cage shall have a total area of less than 2000cm ²

• Construction:

  • 600cm ² of cage area must be useable

  • the remaining 150cm ² must have a height of over 20cm

  • no cage shall have a total area of less than 2000cm ²

• Feeders:

  • an unrestricted food trough of at least 12cm per hen must be provided

• Drinkers:

  • appropriate to the size of group

  • at least 2 drinkers within reach of each hen

• Claw Shorteners:

  • Cages must be fitted with suitable claw shortening devices

• Nests:

  • each cage shall provide a nest

• Perching:

  • at least 15 centimetres of perch space for each hen

• Litter:

  • Such that pecking and scratching are possible

• Aisle width:

• minimum of 90cm between tiers of cages

• at least 35cm between the floor of the building and the bottom tier of cages

3.2 Barn Eggs

All newly built/rebuilt production units and, as from 1 January 2007, all existing production units must be equipped so that all laying hens have:

• Stocking density:

  • Existing sites stocked prior to 3 Aug 1999 - 12 hens per m ² until 31 December 2011

  • Existing sites stocked between 3 Aug 1999-1Jan 2002 - 12 hens per m ² until 1 Jan 2007

  • New sites - not greater than 9 hens per m ² usable area

• Feeders:

  • linear feeders providing 10cm per bird or

  • circular feeders providing at least 4cm per bird

• Drinkers:

  • continuous drinking troughs providing 2.5cm per hen or

  • circular drinking troughs providing 1cm per hen or

  • nipple drinkers or cups so that there shall be at least 1 drinker for every 10 hens

• Nests:

  • at least one nest for every 7 hens or

  • at least 1m ² of group nest space for a maximum of 120 hens

• Perching:

  • at least 15 centimetres of perch space for each hen

  • 30cm of horizontal space between perches and

  • 20cm between perches and the wall

  • perches must not be mounted above the litter

• Litter:

  • 250cm ² of litter area per hen

  • the litter occupying at least one third of the ground surface

• Multi level units:

  • no more than 4 levels

  • hens can move freely between levels

  • the headroom between levels must be at least 45cm

  • the drinking and feeding facilities must be distributed in such a way as to provide equal access to all hens

  • the levels must be arranged as to prevent dropping falling on the levels below

3.3 Free Range Eggs

In addition to the requirements set out in Section 3.2 Free Range hens must also have:

• Pop holes:

  • there must be several pop holes giving direct access to the outer area

  • each pop hole must be at least 35cm high and 40cm wide

  • pop holes must extend along the entire length of the building

  • a total opening of 2m must be available per group of 1,000 hens

• Range:

  • continuous daytime access to open-air runs, except in the case of temporary restrictions imposed by veterinary authorities

  • mainly covered with vegetation and not used for other purposes except for orchards, woodland and livestock grazing if the latter is authorised by the Egg Marketing Inspectorate;

  • the maximum external stocking density is not greater than 2,500 hens per hectare of ground available to the hens, or one hen per 4 m_ at all times

  • not extending beyond a radius of 150m from the nearest pop hole of the building; an extension of up to 350m from the nearest pop hole of the building is permissible provided that there exists an even distribution of drinking troughs and shelters throughout the entire run, with at least 4 shelters per hectare

3.4 Organic Eggs - United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS)

Organic poultry must be reared in open-range conditions and cannot be kept in cages. The following conditions apply:

• Stocking density:

  • 6 hens per m ²

  • no more than 3,000 birds per house

• Construction:

  • structures with their own dedicated grazing, air space, ventilation, feed and water

• Lighting:

  • natural light may be supplemented by artificial means to provide a maximum of 16 hours light per day with a continuous nocturnal rest period without artificial light of at least 8 hours

• Nests:

  • at least one nest for every 8 hens or

  • at least 120cm ² /bird of group nest space

• Perching:

  • at least 18 centimetres of perch space for each hen

• Litter:

  • at least one third of floor space shall be solid and covered with a litter material such as straw, wood shavings, sand or turf

  • a sufficiently large part of the floor area available to the hens must be available for the collection of bird droppings

• Pop holes:

  • pop-holes of a size adequate for the birds

  • a combined length of at least 4m per 100m_ area of the house available to the birds

  • several pop holes giving direct access to the outer area

• Range:

  • access to an open-air run whenever the weather conditions permit

  • access for at least one third of their life

  • mainly covered with vegetation

  • the maximum external stocking density is not greater than 4m ² in rotation/bird, provided that the limit of 170kg of N/ha/yr is not exceeded

  • birds must be provided with protective facilities

  • adequate numbers of drinking and feeding troughs

If you wish to produce organic eggs you must be registered with one of the appointed UK organic accreditation bodies. For further information you can telephone UKROFS on 0207 238 5605. Alternatively, if you are able to access the Internet, you can go to their web site at www.defra.gov.uk/farm/organic/default.htm

4. RECORDS

4.1 Producers

Separate Records for each production description by house showing:

1. the number and age of birds at placing;

2. the date of placing;

3. daily production and mortality figures;

4. number of eggs delivered per day;

5. details of sales (including date of despatch and name(s) of buyers);

Records must be kept on farm for at least six months after the flock has been disposed of and may be subject to inspection.

4.2 Packers

Separate daily records must be kept for each production description detailing:

1. the quantities of eggs they receive, broken down by producer, giving name, address and distinguishing number of the producer and laying date or period;

2. the quantities of ungraded eggs delivered to other packing centres, including the distinguishing numbers of those centres and the laying date or period;

3. the qualities and weight grading of these eggs;

4. the quantities of graded eggs received coming from other packing centres, including the distinguishing numbers of those centres, the date of minimum durability and specifying the identity of the sellers;

5. the number and/or weight of eggs delivered, by weight grade number and/or weight of eggs delivered , packing date and use-by date, and by purchaser, with the name and address of the later;

6. invoices and delivery notes may be substituted for records of sales and deliveries;

7. Weekly physical stock records.

Records must be kept by the packer for at least 6 months after the producer ceases to supply eggs or at least 6 months after the flock has been disposed of and may be subject to inspection.

5. STAMPING

Each egg production facility that meets at least the minimum required criteria will be allocated a production site number on approval (Commission Directive 2002/4/EC). This number will reflect the production type and origin. The number will commence with: 0UK for Organic, 1UK for Free Range, 2UK for Barn or 3UK for Cage, each number will end with the suffix SCO. This number must be stamped on all Class A eggs and explained on packaging or on a separate sign at point of sale.