The government in the Netherland has announced a new nationwide indoor housing order for all chickens and other birds due to a recent case of bird flu.
The outbreak happened at a chicken farm in Gasselternijveenschemond, a village in the province of Drenthe. Seventy-one thousand chickens were killed after the bird flu was found.
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, spreads easily and is very dangerous for birds. This new rule applies not only to large commercial farms but also to people who keep chickens as a hobby.
It’s not the first time birds in the Netherlands have been forced to stay inside. From November 2024 to July 2025, a similar indoor order was in place. That means many chickens in the country have already spent months without being able to go outside.
No free-range eggs in the Netherlands
Because chickens are not allowed outdoors, their eggs cannot be sold as “free-range” eggs. This means that for now, real free-range eggs are no longer available in Dutch supermarkets.
The Netherlands is one of the largest egg producers in Europe, with around 37 million egg-laying hens. All of them are now kept indoors, without access to fresh air, sunlight, or natural behaviors such as scratching in the ground.
These hens live in large barns, often in groups of thousands. Even in better systems, space is limited. Most laying hens are kept in “barn systems” or “enriched cages”, where they can move more than in old-style battery cages, but still have little space to walk, stretch their wings, or dust-bathe.
In the Netherlands, egg-laying hens are usually sent to slaughter when they are about 1,5 years old. At that age, they lay too few eggs to be profitable for farmers, even though they could live much longer. In natural conditions, chickens can live up to 6 to 8 years.
Bird flu
The bird flu problem is linked to the way animals are farmed. Experts say that the way chickens are raised, especially in large numbers and close together, makes it easier for diseases to mutate and spread.
In the Netherlands, when bird flu is found on a farm, there is only one solution: kill all the animals, both sick and healthy ones. And keeping chickens inside again to prevent more outbreaks.
There is no serious long-term plan from the government to improve the situation. Ideas such as keeping fewer chickens on farms, giving animals more space, or designing systems that prioritize animal welfare are not part of the current policy.
Instead, the focus remains on emergency measures such as indoor housing and mass culling.
– Advertisement –
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theanimalreader.com
