RSPCA Cymru welcomes ‘huge step’ as caged hen consultation launched

Gosia Buzzanca

RSPCA Cymru has hailed a long-awaited consultation into the use of cages for hens as ‘an enormous step towards a cage-free future’ in Wales.

The announcement comes as 1 in 5 hens still spend their lives in cages in UK.

The RSPCA has welcomed DEFRA’s announcement of a UK-wide consultation on proposals to phase out the use of so-called “enriched or “colony” cages for laying hens, pullets and breeder layers.

While being led by DEFRA, this consultation is a joint venture between the Welsh, UK, Scottish and Northern Ireland governments.

The consultation proposes a ban on any new cages from 2027, ending the use of all cages from 2032. In addition, it proposes an extension of this ban to all birds kept in ‘battery’ cages, removing the current exemption for flocks of 350 birds or fewer.

The RSPCA, along with a number of other animal welfare groups, has campaigned against caged systems for over fifty years, and is encouraging animal lovers to back the campaign by urging the relevant governments to take the next steps to ban cages for hens following this eight week consultation.

With a new Welsh Government to be elected in May, the RSPCA is working hard to try and influence the manifestos of political parties across Wales in the hope that ambitions to create a better world for every kind of animal are firmly on the agenda. Their Senedd manifesto calls for a prohibition of so-called ‘enriched’ cages for laying hens, as well as others, such as farrowing crates for pigs.

David Bowles, Head of Public Affairs at the RSPCA said: “The announcement of this long-awaited consultation is a huge step forward for animal welfare in Wales, which has one of the highest proportions of free range hen flocks of any country in the world.

“We are urging the public to make their voices heard during this eight-week consultation period so we can move closer to a cage-free future for farmed animals across the UK.

“Every year across the UK, millions of farmed animals are kept in cages, unable to express their natural behaviours and experiencing an unimaginable amount of suffering. 73% of the British public oppose the use of cages for hens, and we have always been clear: cages cannot be part of British farming any longer.”

The charity has campaigned on the issues of cages since the 1960s, and the RSPCA animal welfare standards already ban the use of cages on RSPCA Assured certified farms.

Around 10 million hens are still confined to ‘enriched cages’ in the UK—which offer just 9% more space than conventional ‘battery’ cages – barely more than the size of an A4 sheet of paper per bird. In these cages, they are barely able to spread their wings, and are unable to adequately dustbathe, forage or show many of their natural behaviours, leading to stress, injury and suffering.

David added: “During their lives, many of the animals will never have the freedom to move properly. Their cramped, often dirty, cages barely leave them room to move, to spread their wings and stretch their legs.

“This announcement is a crucial opportunity to push towards a cage-free future. After more than fifty years of the RSPCA calling for this change, this consultation offers a great chance to give our supporters a voice that can make a real difference to animal welfare, and we’re urging them to get behind this consultation and show their governments that they too want to see meaningful changes come out of it.

“Between five and six million pigs reared for slaughter are born in farrowing crates each year in the UK, another practice not permitted under RSPCA welfare standards.

“With May’s election fast approaching, we hope that the next Welsh Government will consider prioritising a ban on these cages, either via their own approach or by advocating for this as part of another UK-wide focus.

“With the UK Government having already proposed ending this practice in England in their recently-published strategy, we will continue our campaign against the use of cages in UK pig farming and look forward to the consultation on this later this year.”