UK farmers urged to comment on laying hen standards

Earlier this year, RSPCA assured paused its introduction of new laying hen standards following a wave of criticism from producers. Photo: Peter Roek

Egg producers are being urged to contact the National Farmers’ Union and talk about their thoughts on the new RSPCA Assured standards.

This follows the National Farmers’ Union’s ask for better engagement with egg producers, which prompted RSPCA Assured to form a producer group to gather feedback from laying hen producers on its new revised assurance standards.

Earlier this year, RSPCA assured paused its introduction of new laying hen standards following a wave of criticism from producers.

The National Farmers’ Union has already gathered feedback from members on the potential impact of new standards requiring the installation of verandas on barn units from January 2030 and the provision of natural daylight on all sites by January 2031, which is being fed back to RSPCA Assured.

However, the union said it was important that egg producers also took the opportunity to feed back on the impact of all the new and revised standards that RSPCA Assured intends to implement from 1 February, 2025.

The National Farmers’ Union has created a survey, which ran until 12 August, for members to respond. The survey covered 5 areas to reflect the different sections of the standards:

Environment – buildings, floors and litter, verandas, natural daylight and space requirements.
Range – management, shade/shelter, popholes, natural cover and enrichment and biosecurity requirements.
Management – contingency planning, wild animal control, including rodents, and pullet requirements.
Health – health and welfare monitoring, beak trimming and medication requirements. Transport and slaughter/killing – depopulation and processing plant management requirements.

In April, RSPCA Assured interim chief operations officer Kelly Grellier said: “Our members are fundamental in helping us improve hen welfare. Therefore, ensuring we listen to them and provide proper support to help them meet the new standards is our top priority. To do this effectively, we have to be flexible. Extending the current pause until 2025 will give us more time to talk to more members and offer more support tailored to their specific needs.”