Eggstra leg room

The Co-op is the latest supermarket to stop selling eggs from battery hens. Following a consultation with its members, in which a quarter identified animal welfare as a priority, the retailer removed the offending items in February. M&S and Waitrose have already stopped selling ‘battery eggs’, while Morrisons and Sainsbury’s aim to do so by 2010. Asda and Tesco have cut back shelf space given to battery hen eggs. McDonald’s in the UK has served only free range eggs during the last decade, and says it is looking at providing canopy cover to encourage hens to range more widely.

By 2012, the worst form of battery poultry farming will be outlawed in the EU. Hens will be given twice as much space to stand on than the current equivalent of an A4 piece of paper, plus a nesting area with litter, a scratching pad to sharpen claws and a perch. Defra estimates that 63% of eggs produced in the UK are from battery farms; only 32% are free range. The rest are ‘barn eggs’ from birds reared indoors without cages.

25 March 2008