Hen cages and pig farrowing crates to be banned under new plans

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Hen cages will be banned as part of a raft of proposals to improve animal welfare standards, the government has promised.

Pig farrowing cages, used to contain sows during birth and nursing to stop them rolling over onto their young, will also be outlawed.

The National Farmers' Union said that laws should also require food imports to be produced to the same standards to prevent unfair competition for British farmers.

The package of reforms, which also includes plans to ban trail hunting and puppy farming, have been described by Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds as "the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation", but the Conservatives said it showed Labour did not care about rural Britain.

As well as ending "confinement systems" in farming, the government is looking at promoting the use of slow-growing chickens over the controversial so-called "Frankenchickens" - a term used by animal welfare campaigners to describe fast-growing breeds.

Anthony Field, head of Compassion in World Farming UK, said the government was "raising the bar for farmed animal welfare".

The NFU said that alongside the new measures, the government must also "take steps to ensure consumers are protected from imported food that could be produced to lower standards".

It must also ensure British farmers are not "asked to compete with imports produced at those lower standards which would be illegal for them to work to", NFU president Tom Bradshaw added.

The National Pig Association said it would be "following the next steps closely" on farrowing crates and was itself looking towards more flexible systems.

The British Poultry Council have been approached by the BBC for comment.

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Meanwhile, the RSPCA said a puppy farm ban could be a "real game-changer" and that it would work with the government on writing the legislation to "make sure there are no loopholes".

Puppy farming is a term used to describe the practice of keeping dogs in poor conditions where they produce multiple litters a year to maximise profits.

Animal rights campaigners say the practice can lead to long-term health issues in puppies.

It is not currently illegal to breed a large number of dogs. Breeders selling three or more litters a year in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must undergo an inspection to get a licence. It is not yet clear how exactly the new rules will differ.

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The government is also looking to ban the use of snare traps in the countryside and confirmed it would carry out a consultation on the proposed ban on trail hunting in 2026.

Trail hunting involves using a rag with a natural scent on to lay a trail ahead of a hunt, which is then followed by the hounds - but live animal scents could be picked up by the pack instead.

Reynolds told the BBC that while Labour had previously banned fox hunting in 2004 "we have seen that people are trying to get around that ban by using trail hunting in some cases".

"Obviously that's also a problem of enforcement, it's not just the legislation, but we are determined to go further, which is why banning trail hunting is in the animal welfare strategy," she said.

"We know sometimes it is used as a smokescreen for fox hunting."

But Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said it was "unbelievable" that the government would be spending more parliamentary time on hunting.

He said: "Revisiting this pointless and divisive issue is completely unnecessary.

"People across the countryside will be shocked that after Labour's attack on family farms and its neglect of rural communities it thinks banning trail hunting and snares used for fox control are a political priority."

Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake called the ban an "attack on rural Britain and British culture", accusing the government of "punishing the law-abiding majority who support legal trail hunting".