US research coalition studies sustainability of chicken housing

The University of California, Davis, and Michigan State University have received $6 million from the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply to support research on the sustainability of laying hen housing in the United States.

The first study of its kind, the three-year “CSES Laying Hen Housing Research Project” will explore the interactions and tradeoffs among food safety, worker safety, environmental impact, hen health and welfare, and food affordability aspects of three different housing systems. Information generated by the research is expected to help egg purchasers and producers make objective, science-based decisions as the egg industry evolves in response to consumer needs and desires.

Laying hen housing systems
The goal of the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply is to evaluate the viability of various laying hen housing systems. The coalition is composed of leading animal welfare scientists, research institutions, non-governmental organisations, egg suppliers, food manufacturers, and restaurant/food-service and retail food companies. It is facilitated by the Center for Food Integrity, a non-profit organisation established in 2007 to increase consumer trust and confidence in today’s US food system.

“We are pleased to partner with such prestigious research organisations on this important work,” said Charlie Arnot, chief executive officer of the Center for Food Integrity. “Today there is much discussion about laying hen housing and standards of care but those conversations are centered primarily on one aspect of sustainability and lack adequate data from current commercial US egg production facilities to provide the information necessary to make informed decisions. CSES members believe it is important to consider all potential impacts of responsible production in evaluating egg production systems. We hope the knowledge gained will benefit CSES members as well as the entire egg industry.”

Producing eggs
Joy Mench, a UC Davis animal science professor and director of the Center for Animal Welfare, said that the funding offers the first opportunity for researchers to study the potentially wide-ranging impacts of producing eggs in different kinds of commercial hen housing systems in the US.

“The information gained will be useful to all consumers as they make decisions about what kinds of eggs to buy,” Mench said.

Janice Swanson, director of animal welfare and a professor of animal science at Michigan State University said: “Our goal is to thoroughly understand the full range of sustainability factors. This multiyear study will examine seasonal shifts, bird lifecycles, bird health and behavior, environmental impacts, human health and other factors affecting the sustainability of the egg production system.”

The first research flock was established in late April 2011. The study will be replicated over two flocks with study completion expected in 2014.

Source: Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply