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2120 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

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THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS TO KEEP LAYING HENSallowance rather than the full 750 cm 2 until 2012 when egg production in unenriched cages will beprohibited. The UK figures are therefore not strictly comparable and are included because of thegeneral paucity of information on enriched cages throughout the EU. A <strong>final</strong> word of caution is thatbecause the data used for enriched cages is taken from a very limited number of sources comparedto that for traditional cages, comparisons between the two are not meaningful as the former is not ofthe same degree of robustness as the latter.Table 2.4 to Table 2.6 present technical data for barn, free range and organic systems respectivelywhere this information is available.A key point to note for all systems is that whilst there is a high degree of variability between MemberStates, there will also be significant variation between producers within Member States. This meansthat although there are differences in certain factors, for example, average feed conversion, betweenMember States, in reality for each factor there is a range around the average and the majority of thisrange will overlap between Member States. It is not therefore meaningful to seek explanation formost of the apparent differences in the averages.That said, some differences are likely to be meaningful, for example, the number of birds managed byone labourer which will reflect general levels of mechanisation and hens housed per square metre ofhouse which reflects the typical number of tiers of cages used which reflects the typical scale ofoperations. Pullet cost will vary according to the cost of feed and will therefore be lower towardsthe centre and higher around the periphery of the EU. Finally, the value of spent hens is determinedby the market for spent hen meat and where this is minimal or non-existent a cost is incurred.Feed requirements per bird (and feed conversion) are lowest in the traditional cage systems andhighest in organic and free range systems. Generally the more freedom a bird has to move about themore energy it needs. As bird density decreases more energy will also be needed in order to keepwarm. The number of eggs collected per bird per year is highest in the caged system and getsprogressively lower through barn and free range to organic.22

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