Document type : Report published by the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (U.K.)
Author: Diane A. Austry
Preview: Ten years on from talk of a ban, new report on debeaking shows millions of day-old chicks still debeaked each year in UK. [...]The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) has today published a report on the practice of beak trimming in the UK.
The report, 'The Case for Ending Beak Trimming', outlines what beak trimming entails and how it is currently justified, the economic implications of its use, and ultimately why we must move away from this painful practice. Beak trimming is widely employed across the egg industry; this amounts to tens of millions of hens in the UK who suffer this practice. Specifically, the report highlights:
- The serious welfare issues associated with beak trimming. Evidence shows chicks experience pain and stress when their beaks are mutilated. The tip of the beak contains many sensory receptors and is used to perform a wide range of behaviours such as grabbing food, building nests, and interacting with peers.
- The need to address the underlying issues which cause feather pecking. Beak trimming is a direct result of the intensification of poultry production and would not be necessary under less intense systems of production which allow hens sufficient space to move about.
- Possible alternatives to beak trimming. There are many controllable factors which have an impact on levels of feather pecking, which include diet, density of stock, and access to outdoor space where hens can forage- The long delay in eother small companion animalsting legislation to ban the practice. 25 years ago (1997) the Farm Animal Welfare Committee called the practice "a major insult", and it has been over a decade since the Government first stated the practice of beak trimming should be banned (in 2010).
- The other countries which have successfully imposed legal bans. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Switzerland, have all passed legislation to end beak trimming in the egg industry.
This report forms part of the wider Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation campaign on improving welfare conditions for laying hens. [...]You can read the full report on beak trimming here.
Report featured in Poultry World on 20 June 2022: Pressure grows on UK egg sector to end beak trimming
