We want happier, healthier hens. We want an end to battery cages.

For many years, the RSPCA has campaigned against housing hens in battery cages and raised public awareness of the inherent welfare issues of these systems through education and advertising campaigns. The RSPCA has, and will continue to, lobby governments and the egg industry to stop this inhumane production method in Australia.

Battery cages are small, barren wire enclosures, each typically holding several birds, stacked in rows within large sheds that can house tens of thousands of hens. In these cages, each hen is given less space than an A4 sheet of paper, with the cages standing just 40 cm high.

For hens to freely perform natural behaviours like turning around, wing flapping, stretching, and preening, they need between 540 and 1,980 cm² of space. However, in battery cages, hens have barely enough room to move or stretch their wings. The cages are also devoid of enrichment, preventing hens from engaging in essential behaviours like foraging, dust bathing, perching, and nesting.

Battery cages lead to poor welfare outcomes for layer hens due to extreme confinement and restricted behaviour. Providing hens the ability to engage in natural behaviours is essential for their well-being. While cage-free systems can present welfare challenges, these can be managed through effective design and practices. The goal for layer hen housing should be to enable natural behaviours while optimizing management to reduce risks of disease, feather pecking, and fractures.

The Commonwealth, along with States and Territories, collaborated on the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry. In July 2023, Agriculture Ministers from all jurisdictions agreed to endorse these standards, including a phase out of barren battery cages no later than 2036.

While all states and territories have agreed to the phase-out, over one year on and governments, including Queensland, have yet to enact this change through legislation.

It's time to call on state Agriculture Ministers to not only confirm an end date but also expedite the process of freeing hens from cages.

We are asking the Queensland Government to implement the agreed and endorsed Standards and Guidelines for Poultry into Queensland legislation before June 2025.  We also want to see a phase out date for conventional battery cages by no later than 2032.

We need decision-makers to know that the community wants to see a phase out of barren battery cages implemented without delay.

You can show your support by taking action today.