This evening, a team from Eyes on Animals assisted with the catching and loading of hens at Demeter poultry farm De Dennenhoeve. This farm was one of the first to abandon the conventional method, in which hens are held upside down by a single leg. Seven years ago, they switched to the upright catching method developed by Eyes on Animals. As a token of appreciation, eight of us joined to help catch the hens upright in a respectful way. In total, 2,700 hens were caught in about 1.5 hours.
Smaller-scale poultry farms like De Dennenhoeve, with at most a few thousand hens, make careful catching possible. This is a major advantage for animal welfare: the hens remain in their natural position from the moment they are picked up until they are placed in the transport containers, and the work is carried out calmly, with as little noise, movement and commotion as possible. Of course, catching and loading always involves some degree of stress, and the hens are ultimately destined for slaughter, but we do our utmost to reduce that stress as much as possible. It is also a form of reciprocity: after a year of providing eggs, the hens deserve to be caught and loaded with respect.
Do you eat eggs and want to make sure the hens were caught in a considerate way? Then choose eggs from small flocks like those at Demeter, where by now all poultry farms in the Netherlands use the upright method.
