A fight has broken out with the animal welfare lobby, with the RSPCA accused by Animal Liberation of endorsing a range of eggs it says are laid by chickens kept in inhumane conditions.
The RSPCA gives its official seal of approval to Pace Farm barn-laid eggs.
It receives 2pc of the wholesale price of the eggs, which are sold under its "choose wisely" accreditation scheme.
But pictures obtained by The Sun-Herald show hens at a Pace Farm facility in Buchanan, near Newcastle, in cramped conditions with no outside access.
Many have large amounts of feathers missing where they have pecked each other, a sign that experts say shows they do not have enough space.
The birds have also had their beaks clipped - a practice known as "debeaking" which involves cutting the beak with a heated blade in order to stop the birds cannabalising each other.
Campaigners have called on the RSPCA to stop endorsing all barn-laid eggs - not just those produced by Pace Farm - saying customers are being misled about the welfare standards behind such products.
An Animal Liberation spokeswoman said the group was shocked by the conditions at the Buchanan facility.
"They are exhibiting the type of behaviour that is normally associated with caged birds," she said.
"The public assumes that because these eggs have been endorsed by the RSPCA that they are cruelty-free and welfare-friendly - sadly, in this instance, this is not the case."
Barn-laid eggs do not have to conform to the same criteria as free-range products, where the hens must have access to outside areas during the day.
Barn-layer birds are kept inside constantly, in tiers, though not in cages.
It is intended that they have more space to move around and to nest naturally.
On Friday, the RSPCA defended its decision to endorse the Pace Farm barn-laid brand.
Chief executive Heather Neil said: "RSPCA standards for accredited egg production ensure that hens are given the freedom to exhibit natural behaviours.
"The program involves a process of stringent and regular inspections every eight to 12 weeks to ensure standards are being met."
Ms Neil confirmed the RSPCA endorsed beak clipping of birds at the Buchanan facility.
"The RSPCA is aware of behavioural problems with this particular flock at Buchanan, specifically feather picking," she said.
On the allegation that the birds were too cramped, she said RSPCA standards allowed for seven birds per square metre as opposed to the national code of practice standard of 12.
Animal Liberation said the RSPCA standard gives each bird an amount of space equivalent to a piece of A3 paper.
Ms Neil said the demand for eggs in Australia was about 200 million dozen eggs a year.
"Such a demand necessitates large-scale commercial production," she said.
"The RSPCA would prefer to be in there helping to improve the welfare of birds in commercial egg production rather than not being involved at all."
She said all the money received from the sale of the eggs - believed to be hundreds of thousands of dollars - was channelled back into the accreditation scheme.
Pace Farm is the biggest battery egg producer in the southern hemisphere but also has free-range and barn-laid products.
A spokesman for the company refused to comment on the allegations or the pictures, which were taken a week ago.
SOURCE: Sun Herald, Sydney.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter