Dame Joanna Lumley demands ministers ban cages that still hold 10million chickens in UK as undercover footage reveals ‘cruelly overcrowded’ conditions at egg producer

• Secretly filmed video reveals shocking state of chickens at East Yorkshire farm 
• Some chickens were dead while others were disfigured and had feather loss 
• Dame Joanna has now ‘dared’ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to watch the footage  

Dame Joanna Lumley has called on the Government to keep its promise to end battery cages for chickens, after undercover footage exposed ‘cruelly overcrowded’ conditions at a major egg producer.

The secretly-obtained video recording shows the reality of battery cage farming.

Investigators covertly filmed birds struggling to stand, some that were totally bald with swollen heads and extreme feather loss and dead chickens left rotting in the cages.

Reviewed by a veterinary expert, the footage was described as being ‘worryingly normal’ in caged battery chicken farms.

The operators of Carr Farm in Withernsea, East Yorkshire insist that they raise ‘healthy, well-managed birds’ in an ‘enriched colony cage system’.

The appalling conditions faced by battery cage chickens were captured on film secretly recorded at Carr Farm in Withernsea, East Yorkshire

Dame Joanna Lumley has called on the Government to keep its promise to end battery cages for chickens, following the undercover investigation

Government ministers have repeatedly promised they would eliminate battery cages for hens.

Dame Joanna said the images show the grim reality of chickens forced to live in cages – and threw down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to watch the video.

She added: ‘How many times must the British public voice its horror at the way laying hens are treated before the Government acts?

‘I dare the Prime Minister to watch this footage and claim his Government takes animal welfare seriously.’

The Government has repeatedly said it is committed to making the industry end the use of cages but has yet to launch a public consultation on a proposed ban, despite promising one by the end of 2022.

In 2022, Defra ministers Victoria Prentis and Steve Double respectively said the Government was ‘committed to phasing out confinement systems’ and that ‘Transitioning to non-caged systems continues to be a government priority’.

Denmark, Germany, Austria and Switzerland have all banned keeping hens in cages.

The undercover footage exposed ‘cruelly overcrowded’ conditions at a major egg producer

Reviewed by a veterinary expert, the footage was described as being ‘worryingly normal’ in caged battery chicken farms It showed chickens locked away in cages (left) with some showing visible wounds on their body (right)

Dame Joanna Lumley said that the images shows the grim reality of chickens forced to live in cages – and threw down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to watch the video 

Animal rights charity Open Cages, which obtained the covert recordings, said it is ‘furious’ at the Government’s inaction.

It investigated firm K Fresh as one of hundreds of British egg producers that still confine birds to cages.

It says that in all around ten million laying hens nationwide are kept in cages – accounting for over a quarter of all British eggs produced.

Open Cages activists visited Carr Farm three times between November and February and installed hidden cameras, which they allege revealed ‘excessive animal cruelty’.

They say that hens were suffering in cramped conditions with ‘no natural light, no fresh air and no space to roam’.

Numerous hens had feather loss caused by pecking from stress or contact with their cage and some had died.

The charity claims that most of the hens in one of the producer’s seven poultry sheds went more than a day unchecked by farm workers and says it plans to report the farm to the authorities for alleged neglect.

In Europe, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Switzerland have all banned the practice of keeping hens in cages. Pictured is the battery farm of the major egg supplier 

Animal rights charity Open Cages, which obtained the covert recordings, said it is ‘furious’ at the Government’s inaction

Numerous hens had feather loss caused by pecking from stress or contact with their cage and some had died. Pictured is the carcass of one bird 

It investigated firm K Fresh as one of hundreds of egg producers across the UK that still confine birds to cages

Chief executive Connor Jackson said: ‘I’m furious at the Government for breaking yet another promise for animals.

‘Our footage proves that there are no happy hens in cages. These poor birds are forced to endure horrendous, unnatural conditions and that’s why all major supermarkets are phasing them out.

‘But 10 million hens remain trapped in cruel cages as a result of the Government’s inaction.’

The Mail asked veterinary professor Andrew Knight, director of the University of Winchester’s Centre for Animal Welfare, to review the charity’s footage.

He concluded that the ‘severe crowding and barren environment’ of the cages was causing the hens suffering.

He highlighted cage surfaces heavily contaminated with faeces, feathers and cobwebs and said that hygiene levels were a ‘great concern’.

He said that dead hens should be removed within 24 hours and severely injured or sick birds should be seen by vets for treatment or euthanasia.

But he added: ‘Sadly, the scandal here is that these standards are worryingly normal across the industry and how different that is from what the public rightly expects in terms of the safeguarding and welfare of farm animals.’

Andrew Knight, director of the University of Winchester’s Centre for Animal Welfare, reviewed the footage and said  ‘severe crowding and barren environment’ of the cages was causing the hens suffering.

The charity that obtained the footage investigated firm K Fresh as one of hundreds of egg producers across the UK that still confine birds to cages

K Fresh has been producing eggs for UK consumers for more than 50 years and supplies some of the country’s big shops

In 2004, K Fresh  was one of the first producers nationwide to install an enriched colony cage system. Pictured are some of the eggs collected from the battery farm 

K Fresh has been producing eggs for UK consumers for over 50 years and supplies some of the country’s big retailers.

In 2004, it was one of the first producers nationwide to install an enriched colony cage system.

This was hailed in local newspaper reports at the time as providing hens with a ‘near perfect environment, offering exceptionally high standards of hygiene’.

On its website, K Fresh says: ‘We believe healthy, well-managed birds produce consistently high quality eggs, and in pursuing that philosophy we have pioneered the Enriched Colony Cage System.

‘This system provides our birds with a social, disease free (our birds have low drug residue), enhanced climate environment, running on a natural day/night cycle.’

K Fresh director Tom Kirkwood said that he was ‘very confident’ that the firm upholds proper welfare standards at the farm.

He asked to see the Open Cages footage but declined to comment on it.

A Defra spokesperson said: ‘Egg producers and consumers should rightly have pride in the quality of British eggs, with about 75 per cent coming from free range, barn and organic production systems.

‘We will continue to work with retailers and producers to ensure we maintain and enhance the high standards of animal health and welfare we have in this country, including on our farms.’

Evidence of dead hens were found at the battery farm, which left a leading vet to slam the conditions faced by the chickens 

Cage surfaces heavily contaminated with faeces, feathers and cobwebs and said that hygiene levels were a ‘great concern’

The footage was secretly filmed and has sparked an outcry for the government to take action and improve the situation for chickens

A British Egg Industry Council spokesperson said: ‘Independent auditors conducted an immediate audit of the farm on behalf of the British Egg Industry Council and the BEIC is confident that there is no food safety risk.

‘The audit showed that the majority of birds in the unit are fit and healthy. The imagery edited and selected by Open Cages includes some showing feather loss which is inevitable in any older flock. 

‘Although feather loss can look distressing to the human eye, it is common for older hens to show feather wear. Hens in indoor production systems are not reliant on feathers for warmth and it causes them no discomfort or distress.

‘The BEIC has increased its auditing of the farm to ensure that any non-conformances are addressed and the highest standards are maintained at all times.

‘British eggs are produced to the highest standards in the world to ensure the best possible welfare for hens across all systems of production, which are in place to cater for consumer choice.’

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