Today is deadline day for British chicken owners to register each of their individual birds with the state. From October 1st, it will be illegal to keep unregistered chickens in England, Wales and Scotland. The new law also applies to pigeons and birds of prey.
Formally, the regulations are to aid preparedness for avian flu and similar diseases. However, some observers are hinting that the law means that Parliament is losing focus on the big issues. Former Conservative and UKIP MP Douglas Carswell noted:
In Britain from next Tuesday it will be a criminal offence to keep a chicken without registering it with the authorities. Clown country
Under previous rules, flocks of 50 or more had to be registered with the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Now the laws are being extended to cover individual birds, whether their eggs are destined for commercial or personal consumption—including chickens kept as pets.
Following a consultation exercise under Rishi Sunak’s previous government, attracting fewer than 3,500 respondents, the Labour government is implementing the new measure. Only 13% of those taking part in the survey thought new rules applying to individual birds were needed.
Jane Howorth, the chief executive of the British Hen Welfare Trust, supports the changes but is concerned that volunteers could be deterred from keeping “‘rescue hens:”
There has been an outpouring of frustration that people will have to comply with another level of bureaucracy.
To date, the regulatory regime does not include “psittacines and passerines (budgies, parrots, canaries and similar species) kept within a dwelling or in a dedicated ‘bird house’ without any access to the outside.”
All other keepers are now legally obliged to review their records annually and keep DEFRA informed of their bird ownership. Those who do not comply risk a £5,000 (€5,989) fine or six months’ imprisonment. Coincidentally, the new regime launches within a week of the UK being officially declared avian flu-free.
The wording of the new law is as pedantic as one might expect. However, it does not move Britain any nearer to resolving a key question, namely which came first, the chicken or the egg?
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