§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list the grants made available for the 25 projects currently receiving funding from her984W Department in order to carry out research into the welfare problems associated with laying hens in intensive systems, naming the project and giving the amount of funding for each; what grants have been awarded to Horizon Farms by her Department over the last five years; and what was the size of each grant.
§ Mr. SoamesProjects funded by this Department and of relevance to laying hens in intensive systems address the following topics:
Subject 1993–94 costs £000 Effects of handling methods, production systems and nutrition on bone strength and bird damage in laying hens 197 Effects of battery cage design on bird condition, feather loss and bone damage 195 Welfare aspects of current husbandry practices for caged hens 17 Bird welfare in non-cage systems 233 The principles underlying motivation, cognition and learning in poultry 46 The application of motivation, cognitive and learning principles to behavioural and environmental questions relating to poultry 84 Improvement of welfare in poultry husbandry systems, housing and transport by understanding environmental and behavioural interactions 138 Electrophysiological, neuro-anatomical and behavioural studies into the perception of pain, injury and stress by poultry 177 The physiological principles causing the elicitation, assessment and reduction of fear and distress in poultry 104 Causation and consequences of stress related behaviours in poultry 126 Skeletal integrity in laying hens 100 The preslaughter transportation of poultry by road 66 Avian welfare during handling 31 Depopulation of laying hens 36 Survey of broken bones in end of lay battery hens 35 Depopulation of alternative laying systems 37 Trauma in end of lay hens 27 Destructive pecking and cannibalism in laying hens 29 Behavioural assessment of hens in improved battery cages 18 Causes of broken bones and trauma in end of lay hens 18 Mechanised handling of laying hens 96 Hen injury in alternative egg laying systems 16 In the last five years Horizon Farms has received only one grant from this Department. In November 1993 it was awarded £298,750 by the EC Commission under EC regulation 866/90 together with £59,750 from this Department towards the cost of a new egg grading and packing plant near Corby