This document discusses hens living conditions in factory farms. It notes that colony cage stocking densities require a minimum of 750 square centimeters per hen or 13 hens per square meter. Colony cages provide minimal enrichments for hens and they still cannot walk about or wing-flap without difficulty due to the small, cramped spaces. The document also discusses alternatives to buying eggs from hens raised in colony cages.

1. HUMANS AND OTHER SPECIES
COLONY CAGE HENS
IN NEW ZEALAND
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
CAMBRIDGE IGCSE P1

2. HENS IN CAGES
SAFE ADVERTISING
AND
EX-HENS FIRST
MOMENTS OF FREEDOM
VIDEOS

3. RESEARCH PROCESS
Investigate what constitutes “normal behaviour” in pigs and chickens and
how the confined living environment in factory farms affects this behaviour.

4. CONTEXT/SETTING
This activity requires students to investigate processes relating to whether
(and how) the restrictive physical environment of a factory farm manifests
in Physical, Behavioural and Psychological issues.

5. INTRODUCTION
The debate surrounding the welfare of animals in factory farms is reduced
to whether or not animals have the opportunity to display normal patterns
of behaviour.

6. LIVING CONDITIONS OF CHICKEN
IN FACTORY FARMS
Colony cage stocking densities:
- must be a minimum of 750 sq. cm per hen or 13 hens per square meter.
Colony cage dimensions:
- 300 cm length, 150 cm width, 45 cm height.

7. DRAW COLONY
LAYER HEN CAGE
ILLUSTRATION
IN YOUR NOTE
BOOKS

8. A CAGE IS A CAGE
ADVERTISING
VIDEO

9. COLONY BATTERY CAGES
Colony battery cages are the new industry standard for keeping layer
hens in confinement. Here SAFE provides the answers to frequently
asked questions on this issue.

10. HAVE BATTERY CAGES BEEN BANNED?
In December 2012 the government released a new welfare code for
layer hens that banned the standard battery cage.
In reality, it allows a new kind of cage, the colony battery cage – a
system that a number of other countries and retailers are already
moving away from.
These cages will become the norm for New Zealand cage egg producers
by 2022.

11. WHAT ARE COLONY CAGES?
Colony cages are a new type of battery cage. In the marketing they talk
about ‘enrichments’ but these are minimal and the birds still spend
their life confined.
Cage sizes vary but each hen must have a mere 750 square centimetres,
(about the size of an A4 sheet of paper), just slightly bigger than a
standard battery cage.
Even if you ignore that they are caged, there are also other issues.
The hens still cannot walk about or wing-flap without difficulty.
Colony cages are also low and do not allow the hens to perform a
normal range of head movements.

12. NEST BOXES
Colony cages provide one ‘nest box’ for up to 60 birds, so competition
for this space will be high, which can lead to aggression.
These nest boxes are nothing more than an area delineated by hanging
plastic flaps, with no bedding material, frustrating the hens’ instinct to
create a warm, comfortable space in which to lay their eggs.

13. RUBBER MATS
Rubber mats are provided to shorten claws, but fail to address the real
problem of hens being unable to scratch around, something they spend
much of their time doing in non-cage environments.
Colony cages contain perches for the hens to roost on, however they
are too low to be perceived as safe by the hens and lack of access to a
safe perch can lead to agitation.
And of course, with so many hens crammed into the cages, there is not
enough space for most of the hens to use the enrichments anyway.

14. WHAT DO THE TERMS COLONY LAID AND
COLONY SYSTEM MEAN?
Eggs sourced from colony-caged birds are labelled with terms such as
colony laid and colony system.
This is a marketing ploy to mislead the public into buying cage eggs, despite
the majority of people being against keeping hens in cages.

15. WHAT IS A FURNISHED SYSTEM?
This is another term that may be used to refer to colony cages, a term
typically used overseas.

16. WHAT IS THE SITUATION OVERSEAS?
Colony cages have already been banned in parts of Europe, such as
Switzerland and Austria, and some overseas supermarkets are refusing
to sell colony laid eggs.
New Zealand is lagging far behind, since we are only at the stage of
introducing these cruel cages.

17. WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO BUYING
COLONY EGGS?
Many people assume that free-range farming gives animals a happy life,
free of the cruelty their factory-farmed kin suffer.
However, there are some important things you should know before
choosing this option.
Many people opt to avoid all eggs.
This is a healthy choice and is easy as there are many alternatives to
cooking with eggs.

18. WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO BUYING
COLONY EGGS?
Many people assume that free-range farming gives animals a happy life,
free of the cruelty their factory-farmed kin suffer.
However, there are some important things you should know before
choosing this option.
Many people opt to avoid all eggs.
This is a healthy choice and is easy as there are many alternatives to
cooking with eggs.