OPINION
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I have recently changed abodes.
In the process I became the custodian of five little brown hens. This was towards the end of winter. They came on to lay and since then I have had eggs to spare. I have been selling them for $5 a dozen. In comparison with supermarket prices, and in the context of a looming scarcity of eggs, that price may seem low. But it
covers the cost of feed, and I like having chooks. They are an essential tool in my gardening economy: they cheerfully dispose of surpluses and leftovers, and they talk to me.
They produce the most effective manure, an essential kick-starter to my compost. They have several voices, ranging from deep satisfaction to demands for more bread crusts.
I started with four chooks, but someone brought a stray hen into the local post office and they passed her on to me. She is now a contributing member of the flock, albeit, literally, a hen-pecked one.
I don’t name my livestock. Too many
mealtimes with children were ruined by the realisation that “we’re eating Gracie?” These engendered storms of emotion and an immediate extension to the vegetarian cohort amongst my children. So my hens are nameless, but recognisable, individuals.
The retail price of eggs is rising.
Bird flu is a factor. Restaurants and cafes are tacking surcharges onto breakfast dishes. Shelves in supermarkets are often empty; supermarkets are limiting customers to a dozen or two a visit to make stocks last. Google searches for the phrase ‘backyard chickens’ have tripled in the past two months. Consumers are feeling the pinch.
Eggs are the second-most commonly consumed grocery item after milk. Last financial year Australian egg farmers produced 6.98 billion eggs or 581.8 million dozen eggs. The average Australian eats an egg every 1.3 days, or 277 a year. Eggs provide four per cent of protein consumed in this country. But the H7 bird flu is returning to the mainland and it is only a matter of time until
a wild bird delivers it here. Bird flu is not generally dangerous to humans but infected poultry are usually required to be destroyed.
Eggs are nutritional powerhouses: a complete protein, with all nine essential amino acids, abounding in vitamins B2, B12, A, D, E, and K. They are also a source of choline, selenium, phosphorus and zinc. Saturated fat and cholesterol give them a tender and unctuous mouthfeel. Plus, they are a handy ingredient, binding compounds and providing structure and moisture to biscuits and cakes.
Around the turn of the 20th century, as the supply chain started to transform, so did the chicken and the egg. Selective breeding cleaved the broiler bird from the laying hen, the former specialised to grow fat thighs and breasts, the latter specialised to pump out eggs. Chicken farming became an industry of its own, and egg farming another.
Multiple inventors came up with the egg carton early in the 20th century, meaning farmers no longer had to use baskets and crates. Conveyor belts, incubators, sandblasters for cleaning, and egg-grading machines for measuring helped commoditise the product. The iniquitous battery farm came into being. Once grown, most battery hens are placed in cages, each bird allotted 900cm2 or so of space, little more than an A4 sheet of paper. In these crowded conditions, laying hens cannot preen, move around, spread their wings or see sunlight. The wire in the cages is slanted to let the eggs roll out, making it hard for the chickens to settle.
Agriculture ministers have sentenced egg-laying hens to at least another decade in battery cages – despite overwhelming calls from Australians to bring the ‘cage age’ to an end. State governments could still choose to expedite a battery cage ban in their states. Urge your MP to ban cages now.
Battery cages have long been
regarded internationally as outdated and extreme. Sociable animals who would normally spend their days foraging, exploring and dust-bathing are kept in stacked wire cages, crammed in with up to five other birds.
The Tasmanian Primary Produce Safety (Egg) Regulations 2014 don’t mention battery hens in their reams of obfuscation, though Tasmania banned new battery hen operations in 2013.
The new Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry allow battery cages until 2036, with a tapering-off period starting in 2032. The task now is to bring that end date closer.
Meanwhile you can choose to buy eggs from hens that are not kept in batteries.
John Fleming II
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