The Welfare of Battery Hens Regulations 1987

UK Statutory Instrument 1987 No. 2020 — creates 1 criminal offence.

Made

23 November 1987

In force from

1 January 1988

Extent

Not stated

Subject

Housing, planning, heritage and land

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Relations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations implement Council Directive 86/113/EEC (O.J. No. L95, 10.4.86, p.45) which lays down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens kept in battery cages. The main requirements of the Regulations relate to the construction and size of battery cages; feeding and watering of the hens; insulation and ventilation of the buildings in which the hens are kept; daily inspection of the flock and of any automatic and mechanical equipment; taking of remedial action where the hens do not appear to be in good health and rectifying any defects in such equipment; cleansing and disinfection of the cages and the taking care of the hens by competent personnel (regulation 2 and the Schedule). Where four or more hens are kept in a cage, the minimum area for each hen must be 450 cm2. The height of the cage over 65% of the minimum cage area must not be less than 40 cm and not less than 35 cm at any point over that area. Those requirements of the Regulations which are set out in the Schedule apply to all battery cages as from 1st January 1988. However the application of the requirements set out in sub-paragraphs (a) to (h) of regulation 2 is postponed until 1st January 1995 in respect of cages which were built and put into use before 1st January 1988 and are not reconstructed after that date (regulation 2(2)). By virtue of regulation 4, the Welfare of Livestock (Intensive Units) Regulations 1978 cease to apply to laying hens kept in battery cages.

Offences created by this instrument

• A person who contravenes or fails to comply with any provisions of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence… regulation 3 · Revoked · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

• Welfare Of Battery Hens Regulations 1987 Lords · Lords Chamber · 19 November 1987
• Battery Farms Commons · Commons Chamber · 9 December 1993 · Mr. Soames

  The hon. Gentleman is correct. We will issue guidance to the industry on the implementation of the Welfare of Battery Hens Regulations 1987. As the hon. Gentleman rightly says, they will come fully into force on 1 January next year. I can assure the hon. Gentleman—and I hope that he will assure his egg farmers—that those rules and regulations will be enforced in a sensible, pragmatic and consistent manner. If he has any reason to complain, he should get in touch with me at once.

• Battery Farms Commons · Commons Chamber · 9 December 1993 · Mr. Pickthall

  Does the Minister agree with the egg producers in my constituency who say that they will be put out of business if they are forced to implement the Welfare of Battery Hens Regulations 1987, which come into force next year, unless they contain a certain amount of flexibility? They will be forced into massive capital expenditure to make the relatively small changes to the floors of battery cages which many of their European competitors have already made. That would put our farmers at a disadvantage.

• Animal Welfare Commons · Commons Chamber · 30 June 1994 · The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Nicholas Soames)

  I beg to move, That the draft Welfare of Livestock Regulations 1994, which were laid before this House on 14th June, be approved. How appropriate that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, should be in the Chair for this debate on animal welfare. The main purpose of the measure is to implement European directives and our commitments to the Council of Europe in respect of animal welfare. It is being introduced after full consultation with the industry, welfare organisations and other interested parties. Although the size of the document may appear daunting, that is principally because, as well as making…

• Welfare Of Livestock Regulations 1994 Lords · Lords Chamber · 15 July 1994

  Schedule 1 on battery hens updates the previous Welfare of Battery Hens Regulations 1987, which implement the Community directive of 1986 setting minimum standards for battery hens. It may assist the House if I explain a complex problem which arose when the 1987 regulations were made. The EC directive requires 450 sq. cm. of floor space for each hen—this is the minimum cage area. Normally, hens are kept four or five to a cage giving as a minimum an overall cage size of 1800 to 2250 sq. cm. This gives the birds some flexibility as to the use of space. However, some cages exist in which three…

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

Check the source

• This instrument on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text, including amendments made since
• Other instruments from 1987