E.U. regulation 99/74, the laying industry in Gozo

Abstract

The aim of the study is to analyse the 6 farms in Gozo of laying hens in relation to the Welfare E.U. directive 99/74. First going to describe how the farms are made and in what they consist of. Then going to enter in detail on how these farms are going to be affected by this particular directive. This directive consists in about 5 different alternative systems, which each farm has to adopt one of them. In choosing one of these systems one has to keep in mind the size of the farm, size of the sheds and the will of the farmer. Some of the systems like the Aviary and Free-range system will need some changes in the sheds and land that surround the farm. In the case of the other systems the change has to be done inside the sheds. The only exception is with enriched cages, which are wider than the conventional ones. After collecting the data from each farm they are going to be analaysed individually according to the measures and standards listed above. Than at the end of the study, there are advices and ways that these particular farmers can choose for their own farm. These selections have to be done between 2006 and 2012 when the council of Europe will decide what is going to happen when the conventional cages will be removed. Hope this type of study will be useful to the farmers themselves and even to the authorities that are in a position to do policies for the island of Gozo.