POULTRY farmers took the opportunity to see the latest developments in egg production on a pioneering unit.

Chris Kirkwood was one of the first producers in the country to install an “enriched colony” system for laying hens.

He produces more than 50 million eggs a year at Withernsea and installed his new system after 40 years in egg production.

Mr Kirkwood told fellow producers, during a visit organised by the North-East National Farmers’ Union, that he had tried every system – from free range to cage – but is convinced his colony system is the way forward.

It not only meets all five freedoms laid down by the Farm Animal Welfare Council, but also provides a near perfect environment, offering exceptionally high standards of hygiene and bio-security, with very low mortality rates and excellent working conditions for stockmen.

Despite the investment required – about £15 a bird – Mr Kirkwood put his system in five years ago, when it was virtually unknown.

Hens are kept in groups of 60 – a stocking density similar to free-range systems given that many free-range birds prefer to spend their time indoors to avoid the inclement British weather.

Inside their pens, the birds have access to two covered nest boxes, perches for roosting, textured matting for scratching in and material for dust-bathing.

There is even a strip of abrasive material along the feeding troughs that keeps the birds’ claws filed down.