The importance of good stockmanship
Stockmanship in the context of egg farming refers to the skills and practices involved in the management and care of the laying hens. It encompasses a range of tasks and responsibilities aimed at ensuring the well-being, health and productivity of the birds.
Good stockmanship, or how layer hens are farmed and cared for, is of utmost importance in farming – because happy hens lay good eggs! In addition, New Zealand all farmers abide by a series of legal standards in their day-to-day farming. These include adhering to the Layer Hen Code of Welfare and having a registered Risk Management Plan (RMP).
Animal Welfare Requirements – Welfare Code (Layer Hen)
The Code of Welfare (Layer Hens) 2012 (updated 2018) is the guiding document for all commercial egg farmers in New Zealand. It has been specifically reviewed and recommended by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), a group of welfare experts who provide independent advice to the Ministry for Primary Industries.
The last review took place in 2018.
For a full overview of the Code and the changes introduced in 2018, visit the MPI website and navigate to ‘layer hen welfare code’.
Legal Requirements
As well as adhering to the Code of Welfare, all commercial egg farmers (with 100 or more birds) are required to have a registered Risk Management Programme (RMP). Under the Ministry for Primary industries and the NZ Food Safety Authority, all commercial egg farmers are required to operate within legal requirements for food safety.
RMPs are designed to identify, control, manage, and minimise or eliminate hazards generally associated with human health, animal health, and with the labelling and ‘wholesomeness’ of a product. In simple terms, having an RMP helps ensure all aspects for a farmers or processors operation have been well considered and the resulting products are safe and fit for purpose. Farms and processing businesses are regularly audited by MPI officials to review that their RMP is in place, and working well.
More details about RMP’s and the other food safety requirements are here.
Training + Development
The EPF supports industry training and development opportunities in cooperation with the Primary Industry Training Organisation (PrimaryITO), which has developed unit standards and qualifications for egg farmers. This includes providing a career and training path for school leavers looking to enter the industry, as well as continually up-skilling current egg farmers.
PrimaryITO has developed the following unit standards and qualifications for egg farmers:
Biosecurity
New Zealand’s egg farming industry is one of the best in the world, partly because we are an island nation free from many of the avian illnesses found in many other countries.
We are unique internationally, being free from the three most devastating avian diseases: Newcastle Disease (ND), and Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD).
Egg farms in New Zealand implement strict biosecurity measures on farms to prevent the spread of diseases into and between flocks. This includes controlled access to farms, pest control, sanitation protocols and monitoring of visitor activities.
Government quarantine regulations are imposed to protect the superior health status of the national poultry flock and native birds, and there are no imports of table eggs allowed into New Zealand.
The EPF supports the retention and continued improvement of the regulations, to ensure New Zealand’s unique disease-free status is maintained and our valuable NZ egg farming industry is well protected – and sustainable.
