Hens have waited long enough
Now the Government must show it means business
On 1 June, it will have been twelve weeks since the Government’s consultation on the caged keeping of laying hens closed, the deadline for when Governments are meant to publish consultation results.
When the consultation was launched in January, it presented one of the first major steps in the Government delivering on the new Animal Welfare Strategy. The Government said it planned to move away from confinement systems including colony cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs, giving animals greater freedom.
Now we are waiting on the Governments response and plan of action.
Across the UK, millions of hens are languishing in cages. Defra’s own consultation documents show that, although the use of caged eggs has fallen significantly, caged systems still accounted for around 21% of UK retail eggs in 2024. Other sector estimates suggest this still means around 7–10 million hens are affected each year.
These are not the old barren battery cages many people assume were already consigned to history. They are “enriched” or colony cages, systems that still severely restrict movement and deny hens the space and freedom they need to express natural behaviours.
That is why so many FOUR PAWS supporters responded to the consultation. Thousands spoke up because hens should not have to wait indefinitely for political promises to become legal protection.
So now we are asking a simple question: where is the Government’s response and what is the plan?
This the first real test of the Government’s commitment to animals.
We are also still waiting on a consultation on ending the use of farrowing crates for mother pigs. These crates can confine sows from around five days before giving birth until their piglets are weaned, preventing them from turning around or carrying out natural behaviours such as nest-building. Around 150,000 pigs could benefit annually from a phase-out of farrowing crates, according to Government-backed reform announcements.
But any future progress for pigs will be harder to trust if the first promised reform for hens is allowed to drag its feet. The Government has raised expectations, rightly. Now it must meet them.
FOUR PAWS is calling for the consultation response to be published without delay, with a clear timetable for implementation.
No foot-dragging. No dilution. No quietly kicking the issue into the long grass.
Hens have waited long enough.
