Animal group blasts forced molting amid egg supply woes in Taiwan

台灣雞蛋供應吃緊，動物團體痛批強迫換羽

Forced molting hurts hens’ wellbeing and quality of eggs they lay


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s animal welfare community has raised concerns about the practice of forced molting reportedly used by some farms to address the acute shortage of eggs.

Egg farms in central Taiwan including those in Changhua County are said to have resorted to forced molting to accelerate egg-laying cycles for old hens, but the approach still fails to produce enough eggs amid robust demand, per China Times.

Forced molting works by depriving hens of food for 7 to 14 days, during which the birds will lose their feathers and cease laying eggs in order to fast-track a new cycle of egg production. In a more radical practice, some farmers even refrain from giving the hens water.

The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan is urging a halt of the practice, which it says is not only cruel but also undermines the quality of eggs. Many hens die during the forced fast and those that have survived will lose 30% of their weight and develop health conditions, while eggs produced this way also have thinner shells and substandard quality.

The organization calls upon industry players to end the animal abuse and allow eggs to be produced in a natural timeframe.

Taiwan is being hit by egg supply woes with a daily shortfall of 1.2 million eggs, due to combined factors from weather to COVID-19 induced chick replenishment problems. The government has said the demand will partly be met by imports, and the shortage is expected to ease by April.

The reason that the egg scarcity is more palpable in the north is that the region covering Taipei, New Taipei, and Taoyuan accounts for one-third of the country’s egg consumption and mostly relies on supplies from the south. Logistic problems that started ahead of the Lunar New Year appear to be at play and are expected to end soon, ETToday cited the Council of Agriculture’s Department of Animal Industry as saying.