British free range eggs will soon start returning to supermarket shelves, following the lifting of restrictions introduced last year by the government in an attempt to curb the spread of bird flu.
A legal requirement for poultry and other captive birds to be kept indoors was introduced in England last November, and in Wales the next month, in response to the UK’s largest outbreak of avian influenza.
The move piled more pressure on poultry producers, who had already warned of supply shortages amid rising costs, which prompted some supermarkets to ration egg sales.
The government housing order was lifted at midnight on Tuesday, allowing hens and other birds to go outside for the first time in months. The chief veterinary officer confirmed the decision, after a new assessment of the risk of avian influenza.
As a result, boxes of eggs will be able to once again be labelled “free range”.
Eggs cannot be classed as free range if the birds that have laid them have been kept indoors for longer than 16 weeks. After that time, eggs are required to be called barn eggs.
An outbreak of H5N1 bird flu was first confirmed in the UK in late October 2021, and accelerated during 2022. Officials have said the disease circulates among wild birds, but it is also deadly for captive birds including hens and turkeys.
Outbreaks are devastating for farmers because they sweep through flocks, and prompt a cull of birds that have not succumbed to the illness.
While the lifting of the housing order has been widely welcomed, officials are warning bird keepers to keep biosecurity measures in place to prevent future outbreaks.
Dr Christine Middlemiss, the UK’s chief veterinary officer, said: “The unprecedented nature of this outbreak has proved it’s more important than ever for bird keepers to remain vigilant for signs of disease and maintain stringent standards of biosecurity.”
The decision to allow poultry and other birds outside again, as the risks from bird flu reduce, does not remove all of the pressure facing egg producers.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine last February, the cost of animal feed and energy has skyrocketed. Egg producers’ energy bills were further increased by the need to keep animals indoors in lit and heated barns over the winter.
In addition, the cost of fuel, packaging and labour increased significantly in 2022 and has not fallen so far this year.
Robert Gooch, the chief executive of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) said farmers’ costs were not covered by the price they are paid for their eggs.
“Many free range egg farmers were already losing money on every egg laid, so price rises were desperately needed even before costs rocketed.
“The price shoppers are paying in the shops had to increase, and it has, but farmers are still only receiving about £1.35 a dozen – less than half what a dozen eggs sells for in the shops.”
The BFREPA represents about 550 egg businesses, which account for about 70% of the UK’s free range and organic egg production, supplying the country’s largest retailers.
Egg farmers have said that increased costs may have a longer-term impact, as squeezed producers leave the industry or reduce the size of their flocks in the face of spiralling costs.
