• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • EYES ON ANIMALS – Watching out for their Welfare
  • English

Eyes on Animals

Watching out for their Welfare

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
DONATE
  • About us
    • What we do
    • Our team
    • Key Figures
    • Contact
  • News
    • Latest news
    • Good news
    • Bad news
    • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Inspections
    • Farms
    • Markets
    • Transports
    • Slaughterhouses
    • Special projects
    • Other
  • Training
    • Police
    • Truck drivers
    • Poultry-catchers
    • Slaughter personnel
    • Training Material
    • Request a training
  • Industry Tips
    • Animal transport
      • Cattle
      • Pigs
      • Poultry
    • Slaughterhouses
      • Cattle
      • Pigs
      • Poultry
      • Ritual slaughter
    • Educational videos
  • Publications
    • In the media
      • Print
      • Television
      • Radio
      • Videos
    • Newsletters
    • Special reports
    • Training Material
    • Annual reviews
  • Future Vision
  • Help us
Home » Our inspections » farm » Inspection of the welfare of hens at a free-range farm in Belgium

Inspection of the welfare of hens at a free-range farm in Belgium

February 25, 2009

hens_belgium_2009There is a big debate whether hens on free-range farms are really better off than hens in cages. Many people within the egg industry, and even a few scientists, claim that hens in cages are better because they are protected from predators, from disease, from collecting mud balls on their feet and eventually not being able to walk anymore and from attacks by others in a flock. True, cages protect hens from these things, but Eyes on Animals does not consider battery cages to ever be good because they do not have the potential AT ALL to satisfy the behavioural needs of a hen. She cannot stretch her wings, perch, dustbathe or forage. When free-range farms are well-managed and built, they can be a paradise for hens and provide all the security of a cage, and also the ability to express natural behavious. We think the only way hens should be allowed to be kept is in a free-range system. Eyes on Animals randomly visited a hen farm in the Belgium country-side. The hens had a large amount of outdoor space and seemed extremely content. They were busy pecking at the grass and dirt, others were running, certain were dust-bathing, while others were walking up the ramp into their indoor quarters where they could perch or nest. None of the hens had mud balls on their feet, as the ground was properly drained and grass was planted to absorb the moisture. Should people want to eat eggs, the farmer of these hens is the right person to support!

 

hens_belgium1_2009

  • share 
  • tweet 
  • share 
  • save 
  • email 

Filed Under: farm

Primary Sidebar

Search

Featured

Request for enforcement regarding long waiting periods in overheated trucks at VION slaughterhouses

Eyes on Animals has filed an enforcement request with the minister of farming, nature, and food … [Read More...] about Request for enforcement regarding long waiting periods in overheated trucks at VION slaughterhouses

Featured

New film on the fate of Irish unweaned calves on “illegal” export routes that EU tolerates

Ireland continues to break EU feeding laws for unweaned calves during transport when they export … [Read More...] about New film on the fate of Irish unweaned calves on “illegal” export routes that EU tolerates

Our most recent newsletter

Dear friends,

Despite the extreme heat and high humidity these last days still tens of thousands of pigs were transported to Dutch slaughterhouses. We visited the two largest: VION in Boxtel and VION in Apeldoorn. 

Read more…

Subscribe to our newsletter

Eyes on Animals op Twitter

eyes_on_animals Eyes on Animals @eyes_on_animals ·
9h

📌🐓Het aantal kippen die vergast worden is bekend: Ook de kippen bij nog 6 andere firma’s, in totaal zo’n 240.000, worden uit voorzorg afgemaakt.Dat omdat deze binnen een straal van één kilometer van het getroffen bedrijf in Lunteren vallen,waar zich circa 5000 kippen bevinden.

Reply on Twitter 1558871582696771584 Retweet on Twitter 1558871582696771584 14 Like on Twitter 1558871582696771584 10 Twitter 1558871582696771584
eyes_on_animals Eyes on Animals @eyes_on_animals ·
14h

Niets (on)menselijks is ons vreemd.

Reply on Twitter 1558804997684568064 Retweet on Twitter 1558804997684568064 1 Like on Twitter 1558804997684568064 14 Twitter 1558804997684568064
eyes_on_animals Eyes on Animals @eyes_on_animals ·
16h

🔥🐄 Ondertussen bij onze Zuiderburen: stalbrand. “Toch zijn er ook dieren die nog in de stallen zitten. Er zouden drachtige vaarzen in de brand zijn gebleven.” #stalbrand #melkvee

Reply on Twitter 1558777377228001285 Retweet on Twitter 1558777377228001285 9 Like on Twitter 1558777377228001285 7 Twitter 1558777377228001285
Load More...

ANBI

Footer

Donate with Paypal

Paypal Eyes on Animals
One-time donation:
Monthly donation:

Reading Material

  • In the Media
  • Newsletters
  • Special EonA reports
  • Legislative texts
  • ANBI

Our Amsterdam Office

Amsterdam House Hotel
Eyes on Animals main office is in downtown Amsterdam, at the Amsterdam House Hotel. The generous and warm-hearted hotel owner donated to Eyes on Animals, free of charge, a beautiful room where our inspectors can work, hold meetings and store their material.

Copyright © 2022 · Eyes on Animals | Website by Webkompaan