§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list, for each year since 1983, the apparent number of egg-producing chickens and the number of establishments that they are kept in by(a) battery methods, (b) deep litter and (c) free range.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonDetails of the size of the laying flock and number of holdings in the United Kingdom, taken from the UK annual agricultural census, are given in the table below. Very small holdings which only make occasional returns are excluded from these figures.
Number of fowls Number of holdings (millions) (thousands) 1983 40.760 51.9 1984 40.304 48.1 1985 39.268 46.4 1986 37.827 44.6 1987 38.229 41.9 Separate census data are not collected on the type of farming system used. However, I estimate that the number of birds kept in deep litter and free range systems over the last three years are:—
Number of fowls on deep litter Number of fowls on free range 1985 25,000 319,000 1986 11,000 908,000 1987 17,000 1,148,000 Information for earlier years is not available.