Code should not apply

All power to Whanganui MP Chester Borrows' elbow in trying to sort out the red tape that is hampering an egg production business.

For the Higginses of Rapanui Rd, making a change into free range egg production has come at a larger cost than they ever imagined.

The father-and-son team thought they had their ducks in a row, pun intended, and had meet all regulations until they got their building up. Then they found a new regulations meant a 25cm gap should have been a 35cm gap at the bottom of one wall to let the hens range freely. There goes another $50,000 to fix the wall in the four new sheds.

It's not clear if the new rules on the sheds were flagged.

Presumably they are new to the the Egg Producers' Federation because they would have told their members.

But presumably a hen can get out through a 25cm gap, because it if couldn't the Higgins wouldn't have built the shed that way.

And while $50,000 may sound a lot to change four walls, we can no longer think of hens laying eggs in the chookhouse.

These are sophisticated, technology reliant businesses representing a huge investment.

The Higginses made the move to free range egg production before the new Code of Animal Welfare (Layer Hens) was released in December by the Minister for Primary Industries.

Their direction and energy would be applauded by New Zealanders.

Their business has a tick from the SPCA for meeting animal welfare concerns and is planning expansion. It would be a shame if such a forward-looking enterprise is penalised for a building that already has the endorsement of New Zealand's major animal welfare watchdog.-->-->