THINKING about what resolutions to make?

Here’s one which is not only really easy to stick to but will also help improve the lives of millions of hens.

A new law means farmers in the EU will be banned from using barren battery cages although they can still keep hens in so-called ‘enriched’ battery cages.

However, research by the RSPCA found that 88 per cent of people in the North West had not heard of the new law, and 31 per cent wrongly guessed that it would mean all battery cages being banned.

New ‘enriched’ battery cages give each hen less usable space than a sheet of A4 paper and, although they have a perch, nesting and scratching areas, they cannot properly carry out natural behaviours like dustbathing and foraging.

If the public keeps buying eggs laid by caged hens, the farms will supply them. So I ask every shopper: use the power of your purse to get rid of cages altogether.

When buying eggs, look out for the blue and white Freedom Food label which means the eggs come from farms inspected to the RSPCA.

Choose cage-free eggs which will be labelled barn, free-range or organic.

Alice Clark, RSPCA.