By ALECIA PINNER
A DANDENONG South poultry farmer has refused a challenge by animal
rights activists to spend 34 hours in a cage – “as long as it takes a
chicken to lay an egg”.
Andrew Postregna, who owns Tamarix Poultry Farm, declined the
invitation from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, made in
response to his comments in an egg-industry promotion that caged birds
were happy hens.
PETA’s challenge came with an offer to give $100 to charity for every hour he spent in the cage.
In the promotional video, Mr Postregna says: “When there’s a few
birds in a cage they tend to know each other, they’re happy. The stress
levels seem to be a lot less than what it is in free-range.”
The video was produced by the Australian Egg Corporation to guide
shoppers in deciding whether to buy eggs from caged, barn-housed or
free-range chickens.
Mr Postregna, a second-generation egg producer, has about 87,000 hens on his property, laying 60,000 eggs a day.
He told The Journal the health and well-being of his hens was central to his job as a professional farmer.
“It is disappointing that those who are not farmers suggest otherwise,” he said.
“I won’t be taking part in this stunt because I need to be on the
farm looking after my hens. I care about my hens and I have looked after
hens all my life as a farmer, as my father did before me.”
But PETA campaign manager Jason Baker said chickens forced into egg production were among the most abused animals in the world.
“Maybe after Mr Postregna gets a real feel for being caged he’ll stop claiming that caged hens are happy,” he said.
Mr Postregna said there were advantages and disadvantages for each of the three hen-laying housing systems.
“Scientific evidence shows that cage-farming systems provide many
health and welfare benefits for hens compared to other farming systems,
including reduced cannibalism, better disease control and lower overall
mortalities,” he said.
He said University of Sydney research suggested hens’ stress levels were similar in cage, barn and free-range systems.
apinner@mmpgroup.com.au
