Welfare of Laying Hens

• Laying hens are one of the most intensively farmed animals worldwide.
• Their welfare depends on housing systems, management practices, nutrition, and health.
• Public concern has grown over confinement systems such as battery cages.

Major Welfare Concerns in Laying Hens

• Confinement stress in conventional cages: restricted movement, inability to express natural behaviors.
• Bone weakness and osteoporosis due to lack of exercise and high calcium demand for egg production.
• Feather pecking and cannibalism in group housing systems due to stress, high density, or boredom.
• Beak trimming as a management tool, which causes pain and affects normal pecking behavior.
• Foot health issues like bumblefoot and hyperkeratosis in wire-based cages.
• Light manipulation (artificial lighting programs) may cause stress or affect circadian rhythm.
• Overproduction stress leading to metabolic disorders such as fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome.

Common Housing Systems and Welfare Implications

a. Battery Cages (Conventional Cages):

• Provide minimal space (300–550 cm² per bird).
• Birds cannot perch, dust-bathe, nest, or forage.
• Welfare is very poor due to severe behavioral restriction.

b. Enriched/Furnished Cages:

• Larger cages with perches, nesting areas, and scratching pads.
• Allow limited natural behaviors.
• Improved welfare compared to battery cages, but still restricted compared to non-cage systems.

c. Barn or Aviary Systems (Non-cage, indoor):

• Birds can move freely, perch, dust-bathe, and forage indoors.
• Welfare is higher, but risks of feather pecking, cannibalism, and parasite load increase.

d. Free-range Systems:

• Birds have access to outdoor areas.
• Allow maximum behavioral expression.
• Concerns include predator risk, disease exposure, and variable climate stress.

Behavioral Needs of Laying Hens

• Nesting behavior before egg-laying.
• Perching and roosting, especially at night.
• Dust bathing to maintain feather condition.
• Foraging and pecking as natural exploratory behaviors.
• Space to flap wings and stretch.

Failure to meet these needs leads to stress, frustration, and abnormal behaviors

Indicators of Poor Welfare in Laying Hens

• High feather loss or damage (from feather pecking or stress).
• Poor bone strength and frequent fractures.
• Increased mortality due to cannibalism or disease.
• Abnormal behaviors: pacing, stereotypies, excessive vocalization.
• Decreased egg production or poor egg quality.

Strategies to Improve Welfare in Laying Hens

• Transition from battery cages to enriched or cage-free systems.
• Providing perches, nest boxes, and dust-bathing areas to allow natural behaviors.
• Managing group sizes and stocking densities to reduce aggression.
• Use of genetic selection for calm, less aggressive strains.
• Better lighting programs to mimic natural day–night cycles.
• Enrichment: pecking blocks, straw, or foraging materials to prevent boredom.
• Beak trimming alternatives such as environmental enrichment and strain selection.

Key Welfare Legislation and Guidelines

• EU (1999/74/EC): banned conventional battery cages from 2012; only enriched cages and alternative systems allowed.
• OIE and FAWC guidelines: emphasize the Five Freedoms and welfare-based design of housing.
• Increasing global shift toward cage-free egg production due to consumer demand.