well their asset register will be even more improved from the nearly ВЈ40k
they had accrued by the end of 2006, but they have not yet registered their
2007 accounts.
The problem that needs to be addressed is not the battery system as such. We
DO need to make sure that inspections are fully funded and frequently
executed to make sure that only the best are operating.
What is the greater problem is the food demand of the humans.
The reason d'etre of the battery system is that to produce eggs in the
quantities required by the ever increasing and demanding population, the
free range flock could not cope.
It could not cope in the 1950's and certainly will never cope in this
millennia.
Battery systems occured before the turn of the previous millennia, their
advantages and their problems were already known.
As the population of humans increased so did the demand for food. Food like
eggs and milk are non-negotiable, they are not something that is a
uxury -- they have to be a staple for basic good health.
The poultry industry did its best to maintain productivity and animal health
while meeting the rapidly increasing demand but it was a losing battle. The
free range flocks were getting sicker with the demands put on them. This, in
turn, lead to human health issues.
Bringing them indoors, in vast systems, allowed the intensification of
selection to take place. Millions of birds were brought indoors and the
strains were cleaned up of many of the disease vectors that damaged the
birds health and the human health. The exercise was colossal :- testing,
culling, breeding, observations, research on feed - At the same time
breeding for desirable traits - productivity and efficiency - was able to be
moved along at an amazing pace.
All of this was to answer the need for food. and food that people could
afford.
Nowadays we have a generally affluent society, but we are not all so lucky.
Food still needs to be affordable for even the least fortunate.
More importantly we now have even more and more humans. The volume of demand
for a basic product like eggs is quite staggering.
The industry does its best to supply, but here in the UK we started
importing eggs in the mid 1800's and we import millions each year now.
There are 41 million birds [or more] inside producing eggs for the humans of
the UK at any one time.
These birds are athletes - precision genetics for the role they play in our
lives.
As long as the unit is well run, they are given a stable environment, where
there is no consideration of heat, cold, snow, rain, wind, wild birds
passing on disease, predators, variations in food, winter, bullying from
other birds, and all the rest that our ranging birds have to take on and
survive. This allows the birds to concentrate their resources on one
thing --- laying eggs.
The cage system maintains a status quo between the birds, allows for the
best feed input and the cleanest egg output.
Eggs are no longer the dangerous food they once were [and I mean well before
ms Edwina!], they are a clean, safe, easy and readily available food, as
they should be.
A well run system has low veterinary input - - these are unwelcome costs.
I completely endorse very stringent checking and lots of constant training
for the people in charge of these units. I know the system can be abused.
But not all units are. They should not all be condemned.
As to having all birds outside
-- its a far more challenging environment - for the birds and their health
and to protect human health.
-- we simply do not have enough suitable land in this country for the hens
we would need to put outside, - its either too wet, too windy, too built
on, too poorly drained, too many predators. Global warming is creating a far
more volatile climate in the UK -- if the areas of England that were flooded
crops last summer had been free ranging birds then millions could have been
drowned. The forecasters indicate that this is something to get used to.
-- we would need to create birds with different qualities which would
detract from productivity and food efficiency, it can be done but needs time
again to bring these features to the fore, not to put birds that are
designed to be protected, out there.
-- routine mortality is higher outside than in. I completely understand that
if you get a problem inside then the trouble will spread with much greater
efficacy and effect. But it can also be contained.
The most serious problems with H5N1 around the world have been in places
where the containment was not possible due to volume of birds outside.
-- to make economic sense free range units have to be so big that they are
not really free range at all -- they are vast barn units where only a small
proportion of the birds bother to go outside. The potential for bullying and
cannabalism is off the scale. Chickens are just like that in numbers.
I do not think that battery units are anywhere near a perfect answer, fewer
humans would be. But, as that is not going to happen; they have to be fed.
I am really glad that there are people who can afford to choose to buy from
small free range places, but even those people are still buying quite a lot
of battery produced eggs in all the other foods they eat. Egg is in SO Much
as a process ingredient. Its such an important item.
I am really glad that there are people exploring the potential of growing
more food themselves -- fruit, vegetables and having chickens and ducks
themselves. Particularly for the next generation who were in danger of
losing contact with the land that supports them.
I am completely realistic in understanding that this is not going to sustain
the whole population and nor should it.
Putting a few of these birds through the chaos of mixing them up with new
birds, when they have been in settled sets for 2 years; driving them for
hours around the country; handing them out to complete novices with
superficial support; and to the vagaries of the outside environment, poor
diet and all the hazards; particularly with the weakness of immune system
and conditions that the next years will bring on; collecting monies in
return; is not necessarily the most humane solution, in my view. I respect
that your view is different. All I ask is that you respect mine. I have, and
do think about this quite deeply. I help with the aftermath on a daily
basis.
If someone wants to have cheap birds from the commercial world, why not take
birds from free range units, where at least they have had a chance to
develop a decent immune system, and a little savvy about having lots of
"mates" and maybe have been outside a few times. These places also
displenish at a similar age, and are more likely to be closer to hand. By
visiting the local farmers markets and looking at eggs boxes in local shops
its possible to find places in your vicinity. One can choose places where
the flocks are smaller and so more likely to have spent more time outside,
these will be so much more robust and happy to deal with the conditions.
They are also being culled, why not re-home them?
Even better get birds who are really suited to the job you want them to
perform and encourage some of the supreme excellence in breeding that this
country was once famous for.
We are so in danger of losing all the best qualities of the birds we once
had, there are Victorian breeders spinning in their graves to see the
wastage and the dross that is being produced in their names.
--
regards
Jill Bowis
Domestic Poultry and Waterfowl Solutions
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine Nursery
Seasonal Farm Food
http://www.kintaline.co.uk
