Poultry farmers or egg production centres in Andhra Pradesh, the largest producer of eggs, which continue to practice the starvation force molting regimes on hens, will have to discontinue it or else face action.

The practice, in vogue, especially at egg production facilities throughout India involves depriving hens of food upto14 days. It can also involve denial of water for a couple of days. The overall intent is to manipulate the egg-laying cycle or rejuvenate the reproductive cycle so that the hen lays more eggs.

Starvation force molting dramatically increases the risk of hens' laying salmonella-infected eggs. The practice is also a short cut to maximize profits, says the Humane Society Internationale, that champions animal rights.

Ban

During a forced molt, hens suffer greatly and may lose up to 35 per cent of their body weight. This practice of food withdrawal has been widely questioned throughout the world and is prohibited in Australia, the European Union, and the US, under the American egg industry's animal husbandry program.

In March, the Animal Welfare Board of India confirmed that starvation force molting is a punishable offence under India's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960. It ordered all egg production facilities to immediately discontinue the practice, Mr N.G. Jayasimha of the HSI told Business Line .

Now, the Director of Animal Husbandry for the Government of Andhra Pradesh, has directed the Joint Directors (Animal Husbandry) and District Officers to ensure that the State's egg producers comply with the Animal Welfare Board of India's order.

Mr Jayasimha said the AP Government's directive comes as a strong support along with those of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa etc. to curb this practice.

The order against starvation force molting comes on the heels of a growing movement against battery cage egg production and farm animal cruelty. India's factory farms confine 140-200 million hens in barren battery cages, where each bird lives within a space smaller than a single standard sized sheet of paper, the HSI alleged.

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