Canadian egg farmers to switch over completely to more humane hen housing by 2036

TORONTO – Canadian egg farmers say they’ll meet restaurants’ growing interest in cage-free eggs even though conventional housing for hens will account for over fifty percent of production for at least eight more years.

Egg Farmers of Canada announced Friday that it is members, representing more than 1,000 farms, will give over fifty percent of the eggs from hens in conventional housing until 2024 and won’t shift completely to other types until 2036.

One critic of the currently predominant kind of caged housing said Friday that the egg farmers might not be changing quickly enough but an Egg Farmer Canada spokesman said supplies of cage-free eggs can meet demand.

Sayara Thurston, campaign manager for Human Society International’s Canadian chapter, said restaurants and other companies “make clear the shift … must take place in four to nine years, not two decades from now.”

Promises to go cage-free by 2020 have been produced by Cara Foods (Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, Kelsey’s, East Side Mario’s and other Canadian chains), Starbucks, Wendy’s (for it’s Canadian and American restaurants) and Arby’s (for its U.S. locations).

McDonald’s intends to do the same at its Canadian and American locations by 2025, the same year that Restaurant Brands International (Tim Hortons and Mcdonalds) is going to do so at its Canadian, U.S., and Mexican locations.

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“Most of those timelines will be met,” responded Roger Pelissero, first vice-chair from the Egg Farmers of Canada.

These restaurants don’t account for the majority of demand for eggs in Canada, he said, adding that the chain like McDonald’s represents a requirement for around five per cent from the country’s egg production.

Pelissero said that makes it likely the restaurants can obtain enough cage-free eggs, as farms gradually shift to alternative housing, without requiring changes to either industry’s time lines.

He said the main demand comes from Canadian consumers who buy eggs at supermarkets.

Most retailers still wish to offer shoppers an option between eggs from hens residing in enriched cages in addition to without cages (free-run or free-range).

Enriched cages house a large number of chickens – instead of four to eight birds in conventional housing – and provide space and amenities for example like perches, for that animals to exhibit natural behaviours.

The farmer organization, in addition to some researchers, believe enriched cages offer animal welfare and farmer health benefits.