EonA team was invited by an egg farmer to his laying-hen farm tonight in Drenthe to check how his 9000 spent-hens will be caught and loaded for transport to slaughter. He was open to our opinion and to exchange ideas on how to improve welfare and to test out the “Swedish method” of catching the birds together with the catching crew. Normally all spent laying-hens are caught by the leg, 5 birds per hand upside down. We want to teach how to at least decrease some of the stress and suffering during this conventional catching method but we want to also teach catchers about the Swedish method, which is max 2 birds at a time and upright. We will start with stimluating organic egg labels to adopt this method into their policies, as consumers of organic eggs will likely be more prepared to pay a couple cents extra per package to cover the small additional costs involved in catching this more-humane way. But first we need the catchers to learn how to do it so they can provide this alternative service! We want to thank the farmer and catching-crew for being so open-minded. Building bridges like this is how real improvements get put into practice that can directly reduce suffering and make people proud of the steps they take.
To watch our film showing the difference between current conventional method of catching and the Swedish method, please click HERE.