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Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC), an organization representing more than 1,000 Canadian egg farmers, announced that its members will stop installing the widely used “battery cages” and will move to alternative housing methods.

According to EFC, by 2036, all production would be in enriched housing, free-run, aviary or free-range. Currently, some 90 percent of egg production is done in conventional housing. The decision follows similar moves in other countries. For example, the European Union and at least two states in the U.S. have enacted bans against battery cages.

“The decision of the EFC is in line with the global trend of moving to advanced bird welfare methods for layer production,” said Stanley Kaye, Business Development Consultant at Agrotop. “We have completed several projects in other countries that adopted similar regulations including in the EU, Australia and New Zealand.”

Kaye added that Agrotop’s particular expertise is to develop an economic system that meets the local regulations. The system must reach the highest standards in bird welfare for consumer acceptability while, at the same time, producing cheap good quality eggs.

“We have acquired vast experience in planning similar projects from scratch and we have been already approached by several Canadian distributers, who expressed interest in brining Agrotop’s extensive knowhow into the local market,” Kaye added.

The EFC said that the move takes hen welfare, human health, environmental impact, food production sustainability and other resource implications into account.

“In response to the best available scientific research and in light of changing consumer preferences, I’m pleased that the entire industry has agreed to an orderly transition plan that will further diversify our production practices,” said Peter Clarke, EFC Chairman.

Canadian production methods were assessed by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply’s four-year, commercial-scale study that looked at the sustainability of three different types of hen housing.

The report concludes that enriched housing provides the benefits afforded by conventional production and additional features. It also allows hens to exhibit specific behaviors, which may include perching, scratching, foraging, dust bathing and nesting.

According to a report in Canada’s Globe and Mail, it is not yet clear which of the alternative systems most EFC members will adopt. The newspaper said it seems that the preferred method is for the caged system known as “furnished” or “enriched.”