Egg regulations and things to think about

“Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid.”
Mark Twain, American Humourist 1835-1910

Now that spring is here, Easter is just around the corner and eggs are a hot item on the farm stands. For eating or colouring, with the surge in egg sales come the annual public service announcements about safe food handling with eggs. So a few years ago it came as a bit of a surprise to hear about two initiatives that make farm fresh eggs even easier to get in the morning. In Vancouver , the city council approved backyard hens for city dwellers. And on Vancouver Island, Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) announced a policy to allow ungraded eggs to be sold to retail outlets and restaurants. As a poultry scientist by training – a very rare profession these days – I was amused, dismayed and quite pleased – all at the same time. I was personally pleased to see so many people interested in keeping chickens and having access to local eggs.
I was amused because the Vancouver city council was told by their local food policy group that hens would not create noise or be a nuisance. Roosters are known to be noisy, so of course they are banned. But roosters aren’t the only noisy ones; anyone who owns even just a few chickens know how just down right noisy chickens can be, especially at the point when the egg comes out. They can completely denude a lawn in no time, dig up your favourite bulbs, and rearrange your tool shed as they look for a new spot to lay. And chickens are nibblers by nature. They eat constantly, and poop constantly as a result. Now, historically backyard chickens were common. They represented an easy to keep food source that would glean loose grain, forage and happily eat food scraps and bugs. At one point the country in the city thing was outlawed, and if it isn’t handled properly it could be outlawed again. It is popular by a variety of urbanites in both the US and Canada, and a humorous documentary, “Mad City Chickens”, is about folks who happily embrace backyard chicken rearing. It should be noted that both the SPCA and the Humane Society voiced their concerns about the backyard rearing of chickens on humane grounds, and since I occasionally see the abandonment of unwanted chickens (as was the group of bantam roosters dropped off at the Nu-To-You a couple of years ago) I have concerns as well. Those with romantic notions may soon change their minds, since chickens are a responsibility like any animal.
As for the VIHA policy change on ungraded eggs, I was surprised at the complete turnaround by VIHA. So was the BC Centre of Disease Control, who was not consulted before the news was announced. The BCCDC asked Health Canada to do a health risk assessment before any more decisions are made. A source at BCCDC said that proper labelling may be all that is necessary to ensure the source of the eggs. I don't know the result of the health assessment, or if one was done. I do know that Salmonella has been of concern since cases in consumers have been increasing significantly since 2004, and traced to the sale of ungraded eggs to restaurants primarily from broiler breeder operations. It is not known how many undiagnosed and untraced cases of Salmonella have occurred. The BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (BCMAL) enforces the legislation concerning the sale of ungraded eggs off the farm site. The legislation pertaining to the sale of ungraded eggs is the “BC Agricultural Produce Grading Act” with the associated regulations, including the “Shell Egg Grading Regulations”.
Currently, according to provincial legislation and regulations, eggs can be sold legally to the consumer directly on the farm premises or on a farm stand, but not off the farm premises (e.g., farmers markets, etc). The consumer is a person who buys these eggs for their own personal consumption, and not for resale to the public (e.g., retailers, restaurants, farmers markets). The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is also involved, and is concerned about the selling of ungraded eggs in cartons that still bear the “Canada A” maple leaf symbol as there are legal and labelling implications. A consumer may not realize that the eggs are ungraded, if they are in a recycled carton from graded eggs. All producers should put their own label on, clearly indicating the name and contact number for the farm.
If we go back to 2004, how many people remember the ruckus at Salt Spring Farmers’ Market when VIHA came to confiscate the eggs being sold by the farmers there? A complete about face was made by VIHA because of a vocal food group that demanded local eggs be available to the public. The reason the BC Shell Egg Grading Regulation allows farm gate sales is because the consumer is completely aware they are buying farm eggs at that point. As long as the consumer buys from the farmer, there is complete traceability in case of a problem.
To add to all of the confusion, the provincial poultry specialist retired this year and it is not known when, or if, there will be a replacement. This is very bad timing on the part of the provincial government, especially with the increased interest in keeping chickens by people with no prior experience, concerns for flock and human health, and a need for support and education for all poultry producers.

IN PRAISE OF CAGES FOR LAYING HENS, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

April 15, 2009
CHURCHVILLE, VA—My wife and I used to have free-range chickens. We didn’t get an abundance of eggs because the hens hid them in the barn hay—and then brought us batches of live chicks instead of breakfast makings. And, they stopped laying during the winter so we had to buy commercial eggs at the local grocery.
 
Then the local foxes and hawks discovered our chickens, and we learned first-hand why people invented chicken houses: the roosters and non-nesting hens usually survived by roosting in the barn rafters, but the nesting hens and those with chicks got taken, with the chicks as appetizers. That’s why Britain invented fox-hunting in the old days—to protect the village hens. People also kept the birds inside their homes at night, which meant more disease risk, poor husbandry, and poor hygiene.
 
Reluctantly, the Averys decided to put the new chickens into a coop with a fenced yard—and netting overhead to keep off the hawks.
 
Now our problem is that the chickens peck some of each others’ feathers off. We haven’t had any chickens pecked to death yet, but that’s the typical problem with birds that are confined, but not caged. The “pecking order” is real and natural. The only real solution is to de-beak the birds and my wife won’t allow it. We have thrown the roosters out of the “safe house” and the damaged hens are in a separate area re-feathering. But we have fewer than two dozen chickens to fuss over.
 
That’s why the egg producers of the modern world have invented wire cages for their hens. The birds are kept safe and comfortable, and they’re socially surrounded by other birds that can’t peck them to death. Higher feed efficiency with the cages is kinder to the planet, because millions of acres don’t have to be converted from wildlife habitat to grow extra feed and for chicken pastures.
 
Across the affluent world, bans on caged laying hens are being pushed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society of the U.S. HSUS is not your local Humane Society that accepts pets for adoption but a radical anti-pet group—that  wants to eliminate all domestic livestock and poultry, along with all pets and circus animals.
 
Activist pressure hit the European Union years ago, and the EU announced it would ban cages for laying hens pending a report from an advisory commission. In due course, the advisory commission reported that non-caged layers pecked each other to death more often, while spreading salmonella and other dangerous bacteria. Surprise!
 
Sweden refused to accept the EU commission’s good-sense report, and moved ahead with banning cages for laying hens. Now, Sweden is reporting “significant” increases in cannibalism, bird disease and bird deaths. How does this help the birds?  Meanwhile, the Swedes are importing eggs from neighboring countries that allow cages, in order to supply enough eggs for the kiddies.
 
California may go Sweden one better. California has already passed a layer-cage ban in a referendum vote that takes effect in 2015. Now Assembly Bill 1437 would ban any imported eggs from other states or other countries—except the powdered and liquid eggs used for institutional cooking. California not only won’t have electricity, they won’t be eating omelets! 
 
That’s why I have recited our recent real-world experience, which sums up the history of chicken-raising over recent centuries. Now, like the U.S. Congress, which over the past 15 years demanded that banks make more housing loans to people who wouldn’t make their payments, California and perhaps some other states are planning to make egg-production nearly impossible.
 
Do the activists pushing the cage bans really have the best interests of the birds and our children at heart?
 
 
DENNIS T. AVERY is an environmental economist, and a senior fellow for the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC.  He was formerly a senior analyst for the Department of State. He is co-author, with S. Fred Singer, of Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1500 Hundred Years, Readers may write him at PO Box 202, Churchville, VA 24421 or email to cgfi@hughes.net

Free-Range Egg Ban Shuts Bed and Breakfast: CBC News March 18 2011

Free-range egg ban shuts bed and breakfast

CBC News

Posted: Mar 18, 2011 8:58 AM AT

Last Updated: Mar 18, 2011 10:14 AM AT

Paul Offer gather eggs from his 75 hens twice a day, but he won't be able to serve them at his bed and breakfast any longer. CBC

A P.E.I. bed and breakfast that has been operating for decades has decided to close down next year rather than stop serving eggs from its own hens because of a government order.
The Doctor's Inn in Tyne Valley, northwest of Summerside, also operates an organic farm. Paul and Jean Offer sell their organic vegetables and free-range eggs at the Charlottetown Farmers Market, and offer the produce to customers at the Doctor's Inn at breakfast and dinner time.
But after years of serving their own eggs, the provincial Department of Health has told them they have to stop. The department said it's a long-standing policy that food service operations can only use federally inspected eggs.
The idea of having to buy eggs from the supermarket, rather than use their own from the 75 hens in the coop out back, was too much for the Offers. They will operate this season, and then close the business down.
"When the Department of Health came around and said, 'No, you're not allowed to use your own eggs, you have to use store bought ones, or inspected ones,' we just turned around," said Paul Offer.

'Why take the chance when you have the ability to purchase a product from a government-approved source?'— Joe Bradley, Department of Health

"Jean and I are getting older, we just looked at one another and said, 'OK, that's it, we're out of business.'"
Joe Bradley, manager of environmental health for the Department of Health, said the main issue with eggs that aren't federally inspected is the risk of salmonella contamination.
"The problem is that there's the potential for handling a contaminated product," said Bradley.
"You contaminate your hands, and the hands aren't washed. A food preparation surface may be contaminated."

No crackdown

Bradley said the rule has been the same for close to 20 years, and there's no crackdown.
The ban on free-range eggs has been in place for close to 20 years, says the Department of Health. CBC But the Doctor's Inn is not the only well-established business to recently learn of this rule. Six weeks ago, the By the River Bakery and Café in Hunter River was told it had to stop using free-range, uninspected eggs.
"Our work is always prevention," said Bradley.
"Why take the chance when you have the ability to purchase a product from a government-approved source?"
Offer said he inspects all his eggs and believes they are safe. He and his wife Jean eat the eggs, and have never been sick. He has never had a complaint in many years of selling them at the Charlottetown Farmers Market.
And, in his opinion, they taste better too.