Alternative laying hen husbandry - Minister Künast ignores serious animal welfare deficiencies

How a Lower Saxony state secretary observed the minister with Swiss free-range hens and what he saw differently there

The State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry for Rural Areas, Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Gert Lindemann, described Federal Minister Künast's remarks on a joint visit to Switzerland on the subject of alternative laying hen husbandry as a masterpiece of selective perception.

While Ms. Künast spread an all-round positive image of the laying hen husbandry visited there via the media, the condition seen on site was anything but praiseworthy. "Mrs. Künast apparently only visited the model barn with young laying hens that was presented to her in order to draw conclusions about the entire stock from their condition. Either Ms. Künast did not bother to look at the stock in the last laying stage, which was only 30 meters away and which in was in a catastrophic state, or she simply doesn't want to acknowledge the problems of alternative husbandry systems because they don't suit her," said Lindemann in Hanover. Some of the animals seen there were pecked completely bald and bleeding, the hen keeper there gave a mortality rate of 17,5% when asked.

According to Lindemann, Ms Künast's description of the positive development of self-supply with eggs from this state-subsidized form of husbandry in Switzerland is also obvious misinformation. Minister Künast emphasized the increase in domestic production of "shell eggs" in Switzerland. The fact is, however, that self-sufficiency in eggs of all marketing forms in Switzerland has fallen to less than 1990% since 50. The term "shell eggs" only includes the egg consumed by the end consumer (this is, for example, only about 30% of all eggs produced in Lower Saxony). For an assessment of the total production, the proportion of shell eggs is without any statement value for the importance of the production branch laying hen husbandry.

Likewise, the assertion that high death rates in Germany are due to management errors, as evidenced by the low casualties in Switzerland, is not tenable according to the results of the visit. "The Swiss laying hen stocks, which have to be killed prematurely due to acute health problems, are not even taken into account in the mortality statistics - this is how data is embellished. Operating with such deceptive packages is close to the edge of seriousness.

With such statements, Ms. Künast also certifies serious misconduct by the organic hen farmers in Germany. If that were actually the case, she would have to intervene immediately as the top animal and consumer protector," concluded State Secretary Lindemann.

Source: Hanover [ ML ]