§ Mr. Strangasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will detail the studies being undertaken by his Department into alternative systems of commercial egg production to battery units, giving details of how many birds of which breeds or strains are involved; how long the studies will take and at what cost; how many staff are involved; and at which supermarket husbandry farms the work is being carried out.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe following are the studies which have been undertaken—
- (i) An "aviary" system on a commercial broiler breeder farm was developed for about two years. The capacity was 7,500 Ross 1 broiler breeders. Capital expenditure by ADAS was £4,800 but this was a small part of the total. The project, which has been completed, showed some of the advantages and disadvantages of this system if used for egg production.
- (ii) Under the development farm arrangements an aviary system is being established in Cheshire for a two year period for commercial layer breeds similar to laying stock. 8,500 stock—Hisex Brown and White—will be housed. £15,000 will be spent modifying the housing.
- (iii) At Gleadthorpe experimental husbandry farm some "get away cages" were designed and placed at the end of a laying battery cage house, housing about 100 birds—Shaver 288—and at a cost of £2,500. This pilot study has been completed.
- (iv) Also at Gleadthorpe a poultry house was modified at a cost of £23,000 for an aviary for laying stock. Five batches of birds will be studied over some years. The first batch consisted of 900 Warren and 1,100 Shaver 288 layers and the second batch will be 1,600 Warren layers.
The aviary system at Gleadthorpe requires 1½ staff a year. After initial planning the ADAS staff input for the other studies is very small.