New Zealand's egg shortage prompts SPCA warning on chicken ownership

As many supermarket shelves remain empty for the second week in New Zealand after a ban on battery cages, animal welfare campaigners are encouraging peoplenot to rush out and buy chickens in response to a countrywide egg shortage. From 1 January, 2023, cages—which were deemed harmful to the health and welfare of the birds—were prohibited. In 2012, when 86 per cent of layer hens were raised in battery cages, the government pledged to outlaw them. That proportion had decreased to 10 per centby December 2022, as reported by the Guardian.

The chicken-egg problem, however, might take months to resolve, according to egg producers who claim theyare still hundreds of thousands of chickensshort of meeting market demand.

Purchase limits and empty shelves at the supermarkets have apparently prompted dreams of backyard farming for some. Searches on New Zealand’s largest online auction and classifieds site for chickens and “chicken-related items” jumped 77 per centto 32,800 in the past seven days compared with the week before, said Trade Me spokesperson James Ryan who spoke to the Guardian.

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According to the SPCA, anyone thinking of keeping chickens would need to commit to a flock of at least three since they are sociable creatures. They would also need to give a clean cage, adequate room, veterinary care, high-quality food, and clean water. In addition, owners must adhere to the many municipal council ordinances and licences that apply to raising chickens around the nation.

As per the Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand has 3.9 million chickens for egg production. On the Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand website, it is said that retail sales of eggs are valued at more than NZ$286 million, however, the export value for the year ending June 2022 was around NZ$18 million (£9 million).

In the months preceding the ban on battery cages, the controversy over the country's egg supply grew in severity. Despite a 10-year notice of the prohibition, egg farmers warned of shortages, and some animal rights groups criticizedthe policy for not outright banning cage farming, as the European Union plans to do by 2027.

The legislation in New Zealand still allows colony cages, which can hold up to 60 hens and provide the animals more room than battery enclosures.

The state's leading supermarkets recently agreed to voluntarily stop selling colony eggs by 2027, but egg producers claimed some farms had already transitioned from the battery to colony cages, spending millions of dollars on the process, while others had quit the business altogether.

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