Exposed: the cruel rearing of game birds

Animal welfare rules are to be tightened after an official investigation found evidence of mass cruelty in the raising of game birds shot by blood- sports enthusiasts in Britain.

In the first official inquiry into the secret world of pheasant and partridge farms, the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) found the birds were confined to small mesh cages with plastic "bits" stuck in their mouths to stop them cannibalising each other. The FAWC expressed concern about the routine use of restraint and anti-aggression devices, calling for a ban on "spectacles" that limit the birds' vision and research into "bumpa-bits" – mask-like contraptions that cover much of their faces. The body, which makes recommendations on farm standards, also called for a ban on beak trimming.

The FAWC said that, unless conditions for the birds improved, the Government should introduce legislation to clean up the industry. Hunting associations acknowledged the industry needed reform. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it would await a £340,000 research project into bits and spectacles before a working party drew up a code of conduct for game farming. It commissioned FAWC to research the £1bn-a-year game industry after undercover investigations by animal welfare campaigners raised concerns.

The research could dent the public image of game, which is being promoted as a healthy and sustainable source of meat. A minority of shot birds are sold to shops, although demand is rising and Marks & Spencer launched a range of partridge and pheasant meals earlier this month.

At the moment, game birds are not classed as farm animals and so are not inspected by the Government's Animal Welfare unit. Unlike grouse, pheasants and partridges are intensively reared before being released weeks before the hunting season opens.

Hunters shoot the birds when they are encouraged to fly overhead by beaters in the winter; from 1 September for partridges and from 1 October for pheasants, until 1 February. They pay between £1,000 and £2,000 a day. The birds can be kept in cages for up to three years, but others are released within months of their birth and either eaten by predators such as foxes, run over or shot.

After taking evidence from the animal groups, vets, gamekeepers and hunting associations, the FAWC said all commercial systems used for raising partridges and pheasants had the potential to be cruel to the animals.

"In terms of systems, FAWC is particularly concerned with about the development of raised cages for breeding pheasants and the long-term use of small raised cages for partridges in pairs," the report said. "Birds were kept in a barren environment on wire floors, with minimal opportunity for seclusion. Design appeared to be influenced more by cost and manufacturing requirements than the bird's welfare."

The Game Farmers' Association said the report was the "first proper independent look" at game rearing practice, adding: "We accept all 16 recommendations made in this opinion."

Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, said: "Most people in this country are revolted by the idea that ... millions of birds are factory farmed every year so that they can serve as feathered targets for wealthy shooters. They would be even more disgusted to learn that hundreds of thousands of breeding pheasants and partridges are confined ... in oppressive metal battery cages."

The League Against Cruel Sports warned that continental farms that supply chicks to UK game producers did not meet British standards.