# Debeaking in Europe



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

German egg farmers to get premium for intact beaks



Almost 600,000 laying hens in Lower Saxony, Germany, have been included in applications for a new initiative to improve bird welfare, which also includes measures to end beak-trimming.



German egg farmers to get premium for intact beaks

According to the agriculture minister of Lower Saxony, Christian Meyer, some 250 farmers in the German region have applied to join the scheme, giving a clear signal of their engagement in improving animal welfare.

An end to beak-trimming of hens

The initiative aims to bring an end to beak-trimming of hens and tail docking in pigs. Applications cover nearly 600,000 layers and well over 115,000 finishing pigs from the conventional and organic sectors.

Egg farms accepted on to the scheme will receive a premium of €1.70 for each hen with an intact beak and additional space.

Improvements in animal welfare

Small- and medium-sized businesses have been particularly attracted to the deal, Meyer said, adding that €950,000 will be taken up by the poultry sector this year. It is foreseen that the scheme will continue in future years, with a larger budget, aiming to bring about continuous improvement in animal welfare.

As well as ending beak-trimming and reducing stocking density, participating farms will be required to undergo additional training and advice.

The Agriculture Chamber is currently reviewing the applications and, by the end of December this year, the first non-beak-trimmed birds will qualify for payment.

Source: Poultry World


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## pinkmartin (Aug 11, 2015)

That's great to hear or ehhh read! Some hatcheries here still trim. The one I used does not.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

I dunno..... That kinda freaks me out.

I am all for if people want to pay farmers more so the farmers can give each chicken more space and so better welfare. That part is good.

However... Debeaking a chicken costs money... Which means that the farmer only does it because there is a reason that he has to. So, to the farmer he is spending money to debeak the chicken, because if he doesn't........ ...... What? The chickens eat each other? 

Nasty.

So... If the farmer puts the chickens in a large enough cage, so that the chickens no longer eat each other, he will of course stop debeaking them since he will save money on that... 

But, if the cage size is only increasing a little.... Not enough to stop the chickens from eating each other...... Byt the farmer gets money if he doesn't debeak.....

I am picturing a big building full of chickens eating each other.....

I dunno.

Same with the pigs... They cut the tails off, and cut out the sharp tusk teeth, so that the pigs do not eat each other..... 

I just worry that since the incentive is off.... It is going to end ip with a different kind of nasty.

The incentive is not "my animals are so happy that I don't have to trim their beak, so give me more money for my happy hen eggs"

The incentive is "slightly larger cage and prove I didn't trim the beaks and then I get more money"

Blah


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## pinkmartin (Aug 11, 2015)

Alaska... Shhh. Shhhhhh. Stop screwing with my happy hens laying happy eggs vision..... Shhhhh lol


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That was written with a bias since they kept calling it a "scheme" and not plan. With that the slightly larger cage may also be quite a bit larger. Or no cage at all. Seems I remember that Europe has already gone the route of no cages.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I can remember my horror of getting my first 3 chicks and one pullet, and the pullet was debeaked-and I had never heard of it. It was a horror. But I did come to terms with it and my hen Clarice never knew she was different, laid 366 eggs a year, and was the cleanest chicken I had. We never told her and she never knew.

It's barbaric. I feel that if chickens need to be debeaked, there is something very wrong with their environment.


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## pinkmartin (Aug 11, 2015)

Maybe I'm playing devils advocate, but here goes...

In a perfect world, all chickens (animals in general) would have plenty of space and not want to pick each other apart. We don't live in a perfect world. More space. More humane conditions. That all costs more money. I hate debeaking, but honestly if they are gonna crowd thousands of animals in a space meant to accommodate hundreds, it's probably the best option. Sad, but true.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

I also agree, a good amount of space would be best, but debeaking is way super better than the birds eating each other.

What is wild... Is that a number of people up here in Alaska debeak!

They just trim the tip off, supposedly they say "it is like cutting a toe nail" and that it grows back and doesn't hurt the bird.

Dunno, I haven't ever seen it done, and I WANT them to be able to eat each other... Since that is how I know that I have to change my management practices.

Anyway.. Some people up here are stuck on the fact that you MUST wedge a bunch of chickens in a coop to keep the warmth up.

And I really can't talk, since I don't think my place has ever seen -30.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Will i ever get the $2000 back from the cost of the coop and run?


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Very nice nm! But the lack of cover or overhead netting gives me the willies.


My first two coops cost me money... Since then I build them myself with trash.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

If i was in an more wooded area instead of agricultural if would be more concerned.
How much more would it be to enclose 1800 sqft with netting?


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

The tree line in the back is 1 mile away.


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## pinkmartin (Aug 11, 2015)

Fyi. I don't have tons of trees but I do have a hawk who grocery shops over my house. Our run is completely enclosed.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

I got free net from the dump... Old fish nets.... 

But old tables for the chickens to dive under would work too.... Or even a short picnic umbrella! 

Also, you can take thin fishing line (or whatever you have for free) and string it back and forth across the top... Not a solid cover.... Just very open kind of thing.

Then tie surveyors tape, or anything flashy that will dance in the wind, onto the fishing line every so often.

It is a great deterrent.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

How about that?


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Looks good!


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