Sunday, September 14, 2014

Latest from Britain

Long Term Sustainability of "Free Range" under question.

Here is a report from the Daily  Mail  Science Reporter.  The report simply adds to the mounting evidence against free range being better for the chooks.  Here is the report so you can judge for yourself.



Free-range hens 'are least healthy': Chickens more likely to catch disease, get injured or die early than those kept in cages
  • Eggs from free range hens now make up 45 per cent of the British market
  • Recent regulations mean chicken houses are no longer tiny squalid cages
  • ‘Supermarkets love free range because they make a bigger margin’ - vet
  • 10% of ducks carry bird flu posing threat to chickens that is hard to control
Published: 09:00 AEST, 10 September 2014 | Updated: 13:12 AEST, 10 September 2014
Free range chickens may not live the comfortable lives we have been led to believe, according to a leading British vet.
Research shows that chickens which are allowed to roam free are in fact more likely to catch disease, get injured and die earlier than those kept in cages.
Eggs from free range hens now make up 45 per cent of the British market – a huge increase from just 1 per cent in 1980.
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Cluck happy... or not: Chickens allowed to roam free in open fields in fact die sooner and are much more likely to catch diseases
Supermarkets and celebrity chefs would have us believe that free range chickens are happier, healthier and live more natural lives than those in battery farms.
But chickens allowed to roam free in open fields in fact die sooner and are much more likely to catch diseases, according to Barry Thorp of the Royal School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh.
They are also more likely to break their bones because they have not been bred to survive an outdoor life, he said.
Recent regulations mean that chicken houses are no longer the tiny squalid cages they once were.
Dr Thorp, speaking during a debate on chicken welfare at the British Science Festival in Birmingham yesterday, said: ‘I think that for long-term sustainability, free range systems do not work.
‘I’m certainly very comfortable with buying eggs from furnished cages. I have no issues with that at all.
‘I think free range has some merits but it also has many problems as well. I don’t see it having a long-term sustainability and that worries me.’



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Ten per cent of ducks carry bird flu, posing a huge threat to chickens that is very hard to control
Dr Thorp said the boom in free range has been driven by the idea that chickens live better lives – a message that has been amplified by large retailers.
‘Supermarkets love free range because they can make a bigger margin,’ he said.
But chickens kept in large fields are far more likely to pass diseases to each other and on to wild birds and ducks.
He warned that the increase in the number of free-range chickens raises the risk of a major epidemic of bird flu.
‘We have been lucky in this country that we haven’t had a major bird flu outbreak,’ he said.
Dr Thorp, a specialised poultry vet, added: ‘Having a physical barrier between chickens works – cages stop disease because if nothing goes between A and B, disease does not travel between A and B.
‘When different chickens and wild birds come into contact with each other and their droppings, disease spreads.
‘As a vet I make far more money from farmers who have got birds kept free range than those kept in cages.’
The spread of disease between chickens in fields and ducks in nearby rivers is a particular risk, he said.
Ten per cent of ducks carry bird flu, posing a huge threat to chickens that is very hard to control.
Germany and Holland have been very wary of free range systems because of the bird flu risk, instead opting for barn rearing models in which chickens are easier to control.


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Germany and Holland have been very wary of free range systems because of the bird flu risk, instead opting for barn rearing models in which chickens are easier to control
Dr Victoria Sandilands, of Scotland’s Rural College, said free range birds have a mortality rate of 8 to 10 per cent, far higher than caged hens’ death rate of 2 to 4 per cent.
Free range hens are also twice as likely to have fractured bones as those kept in cages.
Cages are also far better than they used to be, she said.
She added: ‘Ten years ago cages used to have a wire floor with access to food and water but nothing else.
‘From 2012 only furnished or enriched cages have been permitted across the EU.’
Cages now have to contain nesting areas, separated from the rest of the cage, with a ‘scratch floor’, a perching area for every hen and more than seven square metres per chicken.
As a vet I make far more money from farmers who have got birds kept free range than those kept in cages 
Barry Thorp of the Royal School of Veterinary Studies
She told the Birmingham audience: ‘Furnished cages provide a safe, clean environment, and laying hens are generally physically healthy. The ability to perform many natural behaviours has also improved greatly.’
Mia Fernyhough, senior scientific officer at the RSPCA, admitted that free range farming systems are far from ideal.
‘Free range is more complex so it takes more careful management to do it well,’ she said.
‘There is increased risk of mortality and increased risk of disease and injury.