JERUSALEM, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Monday announced new regulations regarding the use of hen cages in the egg industry.
The regulations stipulate that from now on every new hen coop must be without cages, and from June 2029, any use of cage coops in the country will be banned.
The ban is part of a governmental reform in the Israeli egg-laying industry, aiming to meet standards that best ensures the welfare of the laying hens, the ministry explained.
This includes upgrading the sanitary and veterinary conditions necessary to maintain public and chickens health.
Today, about 93 percent of the chicken coops in Israel are cages of various types.
Most of these coops are outdated and crowded, preventing both biological safety and hen welfare, according to the ministry.
The new regulations also set a minimum living space of 600-750 square centimeters in existing and new coops, obligate treatment of sick or injured hens, and set advanced technological requirements for ventilation, air conditioning, lighting and more.
They also ban forced molting, which is the deliberate starvation of laying hens to create an additional laying cycle for them.
Within a year, debeaking of laying hens after leaving the hatchery will also be banned in Israel. ■
