Concerns about animal welfare at Caring Farmers

Interest group Caring Farmers

Caring Farmers is an advocacy organization for "nature-inclusive circular farmers." It was established two years ago after Minister Carola Schouten emphasized that the future of Dutch farmers is in circular agriculture. The latest annual report (2020) indicates that 225 farmers are affiliated with Caring Farmers, which includes arable farmers, livestock farmers, and mixed farms.^[1][2][3]

On its website, the organization highlights nature, cycles, and animal welfare as its main themes. Farmers who want to join Caring Farmers don't need to meet any specific prerequisites. They are simply encouraged to "take a step further every year" toward nature-inclusive circular agriculture. Members must "account for this annually to other Caring Farmers." However, there is no concrete information available about the steps members have reportedly taken in recent years.

Improving animal welfare is a primary goal for Caring Farmers. In their code, the Farmers state that they "recognize animals as living, intelligent beings with emotions and feelings." The needs of animals are considered and addressed.^[4][5]

Collaboration with Animal Protection: Delta Plan for Livestock Farming

The Caring Farmers have teamed up with the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming) to work on the Delta Plan for Livestock Farming. This initiative by the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming) aims to make livestock farming "animal-focused and sustainable." Caring Farmers and the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming) seek to collaboratively develop projects that enhance animal welfare in livestock farming.^[6]

Caring Farmer Annechien ten Have, whose farm Ongehoord filmed sick and injured pigs, is being promoted by the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming) as a leader in the Delta Plan for Livestock Farming. Caring Farmer Jan Broenink, in whose "rooting pig pen" significant welfare issues were also recorded, received a "Deltaplan Livestock Farming Award" in 2021 and was described as "an inspiration for livestock farmers."^[7]

The Delta Plan for Livestock Farming doesn't aim to end livestock farming, which is the most effective way to reduce animal suffering. Instead, it focuses on securing a future for livestock farmers by promoting "welfare improvements." This approach primarily benefits livestock farmers rather than the animals themselves.

A prayer without end

Ongehoord's investigation over the past decade in Dutch livestock farming revealed that improvements in animal welfare do not provide fundamental solutions for the animals. Since 2011, the investigation team has published images showing serious animal suffering in both conventional livestock farming and organic barns, as well as on Beter Leven welfare certification farms.

Ongehoord's findings are backed by scientific research. Improvements in animal welfare often lead to new challenges. For instance, transitioning from cage systems for laying hens to free-range aviaries has resulted in an increase in bone fractures among the animals.^[8] Group housing for mother pigs, which has been mandatory since 2013 under European animal welfare legislation, has resulted in heightened aggression issues and claw disorders.^[9] In free-range farrowing crates, which serve as an alternative to farrowing cages, a significantly higher number of piglets are crushed to death by their mothers.^[10] The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) warns of a considerable risk of swine fever on pig farms that allow outdoor access. The report "Animal Welfare in Circular Agriculture" (Council for Animal Affairs, 2020) also emphasizes the increased disease risks for production animals with outdoor access, including avian influenza in chickens, tetanus, Weil's disease, skin burns in pigs, and liver fluke in cows.^[11]

Stop livestock farming

The Ongehoord investigation into livestock farms by Caring Farmers reveals that animal welfare in livestock farming often exists only on paper. Images from the farms of Caring Farmers, Annechien ten Have, and Jan Broenink displayed sick, stressed, and injured pigs. In a new publication, Ongehoord now highlights crippled and dead chickens on Caring Farmers' poultry farms.

Caring Farmers states that "livestock farming should be based on the needs of animals." However, this idea contradicts itself. Animals do not need to produce food for humans or to be slaughtered. Acknowledging animals as living, intelligent beings with emotions and feelings means that breeding, exploiting, and killing them can no longer be justified.

Caring Farmers advocates for a radical end to all forms of animal production. Livestock farming has no place in a sustainable and animal-friendly agricultural model. Caring Farmer Joost van Strien demonstrates in practice that circular agriculture can be successfully achieved without animals and without animal manure.^[12][13]

Ongehoord has spent a year investigating the living conditions of animals in Caring Farmers' poultry farms. They have already released images of sick and injured pigs. Now, Ongehoord reveals images of crippled and dead chickens in these poultry farms.

The lives of production chickens, both in the egg and meat industries, are vastly different from those of natural chickens. Laying hens and broilers are artificially hatched in hatcheries and grow up without their mothers. This situation is true across the entire chicken industry, including regular, Beter Leven, and organic farms. In natural settings, chicks spend their first days alongside their mother, where they receive warmth and protection. During the following weeks, the mother teaches the chicks vital behaviors such as foraging, dust bathing, and selecting a safe roosting spot on a tree branch. It is only after eight weeks that the chicks start to forage for food on their own, yet they still stay close to their mother. At 18 weeks of age, they join the rest of the chicken group.^[14]

Dead laying hens in Martijn Vonk's run

In Loil, Gelderland, Caring Farmer Martijn Vonk raises 43,000 laying hens in two aviary houses. Vonk transformed a stable into a Beter Leven stable (1 star) to benefit from the higher prices that the quality mark brings for the eggs.^[15]

Under natural conditions, chickens have a specific breeding season. In the spring, a hen typically lays around ten eggs, which she incubates. If the first clutch does not hatch, she may lay a second clutch. A hen can lay up to 20 eggs in a year. Like all other birds, chickens do not lay eggs during the autumn and winter periods.^[16]

In the egg industry, hens are required to produce eggs throughout the year. To simulate the natural breeding season of spring, lighting schedules are implemented in laying hen houses. An industrial hen can produce over 300 eggs each year. This intense egg production results in calcium deficiencies in laying hens, as all the calcium in their bodies is utilized to create eggshells. However, calcium is also essential for bone development. Consequently, laying hens in the egg industry often experience weak and brittle bones. Research by Heerkens indicated that 97% of hens in aviary houses have experienced chest fractures by the time they reach 14 months of age.^[17]

In Vonk's aviary, the hens' habitat features layers of metal slats and a concrete floor covered with litter. According to the Beter Leven criteria, the barn occupancy rate is 9 hens per square meter, which meets the legally required minimum standard.^[18]

Under natural conditions, chickens prefer habitats rich in trees and vegetation where they can find shelter and rest. Researchers have discovered that the territories of groups of free-range, feral chickens can be as large as half a hectare. Natural chicken groups typically consist of 4 to 30 individuals, including roosters, hens, and chicks. To establish and maintain a hierarchy within the group, it is crucial for the chickens to recognize one another. Chickens can individually identify up to about 100 of their own kind. Introducing new animals into a group disrupts the pecking order, necessitating a redefinition through conflicts.^[19]

At Vonk's farm, Ongehoord filmed numerous weak, sick, and dead animals. Many hens had bald patches from feather pecking, a behavioral disorder common across the entire laying hen industry (including regular, concept, and organic hens). Feather pecking inflicts pain, injury, and can lead to the death of the animals.^[20]

A covered run has been added to the Beter Leven barn. This run features a concrete floor, a roof, and mesh walls, but it lacks plants or trees. The wall separating the barn from the run has openings that allow hens to move between the two areas. These openings have hatches that open in the morning and close in the evening. At Vonk, the investigation team discovered dead hens that had been trapped while the hatches were closing. The hens had gotten their heads caught under a hatch, which caused their deaths. Since the investigation team found multiple dead birds under different hatches, it’s likely that these "accidents" happen daily.

Lame broiler chickens at Johan Leenders

Caring farmer Johan Leenders operates two broiler barns in Swifterbant (Flevoland) that have earned one Beter Leven star from the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming). The chicks are unable to roam outdoors and spend their lives on a concrete floor covered with a layer of litter. During the day, natural light enters the barn through skylights, and the birds have access to a covered run. This run also features a concrete floor with litter. The outer wall of the run is constructed from mesh. The Beter Leven quality mark specifies that a barn may accommodate 12 chicks per square meter. Leenders can house 17,500 chicks in each barn. Beter Leven Keeping Chicks.^[21]

Leenders works with "slow-growing" broiler breeds, which is necessary to obtain the Beter Leven quality mark. Slow-growing chicks reach slaughter weight in eight weeks, while regular chicks do so in six weeks. According to the Animal Health Service, several factors associated with the 1-star Beter Leven quality mark heighten the risk of introducing pathogens, such as salmonella and avian influenza. Marek's disease, a serious viral illness characterized by tumors affecting the nervous system and organs, is more common in Beter Leven chicks than in fast-growing chicks. Due to the draft in the barn that enters through the run, star chicks are also more susceptible to respiratory diseases.^[22]

Depending on sales, the second barn is also used to fatten Orange hens. The "Orange hen" is a chicken concept created by Leenders in partnership with Esbro slaughterhouse and animal feed giant ForFarmers. Orange hen meat is sold under the Beter Leven label, which is a 1-star quality mark.

A chicken breed with colored plumage is used for the production of Orange hen meat, unlike "regular" Beter Leven chicks, which primarily have white feathers. The stocking density in the Orange hen barn is 9.2 chicks per square meter, which amounts to 12,000 chicks in the barn. This situation remains unnatural, as natural chicken groups typically consist of 4 to 30 individuals in habitats of up to half a hectare, or 5,000 square meters for 4 to 30 animals.^[22][23][24] The "improvements" in living space and growth rate do not prevent the chickens at Leenders from experiencing welfare and health issues. In the barn with Beter Leven (Beter Leven) chicks (identified by their white plumage), a chick was filmed with a significant head wound. The plumage of several chicks was soiled with feces from other chicks. In the barn with Orange chickens (colored plumage), several chicks were filmed limping.

According to the criteria of the Beter Leven label, broiler chickens must have a dark period of at least eight consecutive hours. The investigation found that the lights in the barn with Orange chickens were on during the night.

In broiler farming, the birds' sleep-wake rhythm is often controlled by light schedules to promote growth. A recommended schedule for optimal “technical results” includes 4 hours of light, followed by 4 hours of darkness, and then 4 cycles of 3 hours of light and 1 hour of darkness.^[26] Research by Schwean-Lardner et al. indicated that broiler chickens need at least 7 to 8 hours of darkness for their welfare. The investigation revealed that chicks exposed to longer light periods were less active. They showed reduced movement and walking, ate less, and were less attentive to grooming their feathers. Chickens that received 23 hours of light completely stopped dust bathing. According to the researchers, these behaviors are crucial for the health and well-being of the animals.^[27]

Broiler farming does not allow chickens to fulfill their natural instinct to sleep high up. While laying hen houses still include perches, broiler chickens do not have this option. Selective breeding for larger breast meat has led to broiler breeds that cannot balance on a perch. Chickens naturally prefer to sleep in tree branches, as this makes them feel safe from predators.