Caged Hens

[Humph Warden Bennett]

From the Beeb.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42208550

I am not sure in whose interests the Chief Vet thinks he is acting, but it sure ain't the hens welfare.

[Shaker]

 

[jeremyp]

From the Beeb.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42208550

I am not sure in whose interests the Chief Vet thinks he is acting, but it sure ain't the hens welfare.

The story doesn't say anything at all about acting. The chief vet was only making a factual statement that hens are in a better situation than before 2012.

[floo]

If it helps to prevent bird flu I am all for it.

[Shaker]

If it helps to prevent bird flu I am all for it.

Cages for humans, then.

[Harrowby Hall]

Cages for humans, then.

Been tasking lessons from Walter?

[Humph Warden Bennett]

The story doesn't say anything at all about acting. The chief vet was only making a factual statement that hens are in a better situation than before 2012.

The Chief Vet would seem to arguing that it is better for them to live in cramped cages, than for them to live in the open air & possibly catch bird flu.

[Shaker]

Been tasking lessons from Walter?

No, just taking Floo's comment to its conclusion.

If eliminating or at least reducing the risk of bird is a justification for keeping hens in cages, then the repercussions of human flu - nasty if you're young, fit and strong; potentially fatal if you're not*; of huge cost in economic terms as well - would seem to dictate that we keep humans isolated in cages so that they too have a lower or even eliminated risk.

* In the course of researching this I learnt that the winter of 2014/15 was the worst flu season in nearly 50 years. Genetic drift meant that that year's flu vaccine was less effective than expected; there were nearly 30,000 extra deaths as a result.

[floo]

The wellbeing of human animal species comes before that of other animal species, imo.

[Aruntraveller]

The wellbeing of human animal species comes before that of other animal species, imo.

I see you think like a shark.

[floo]

I see you think like a shark.

I will take that as a compliment.

[jeremyp]

The Chief Vet would seem to arguing that it is better for them to live in cramped cages, than for them to live in the open air & possibly catch bird flu.

I don't see how you got that from the article.

[floo]

I don't see how you got that from the article.

Nor do I.

[Rhiannon]

I got the same as Humph.

[Robbie]

So did I but cages (very large cages of course), still have open air which people breathe if they're in the vicinity, other birds will graze around and perch on the enclosure, so much the same as if hens run free in a fenced field. We're past the era of shutting them away in sheds thank goodness, in this country at any rate.

[Harrowby Hall]

The Chief Vet appears to be talking about cages that are less than one square foot in area. Hardly "enriched" compared with the minimum battery cage. I suppose that large cages may contain several birds so long as they are sufficiently large to allow all of their occupants the minimum free space each.

Surely, the danger to poultry of bird flu comes from the possibility of contact with other species carrying the disease - so cages in the open air are no safer than external free range. I thought that the "safest" solution would most likely be "barn" environments where hens have a large indoor space in which they can roam freely.