Poultry Welfare

Managing Laying Hen Mortality: Prevention and Response

Proactive mortality management in laying hen flocks improves welfare by identifying problems early and enabling swift intervention.

Key Facts

Daily mortality checks are required under good welfare practice
Pattern analysis of mortality can identify flock-wide welfare problems before they escalate
End-of-lay mortality increases are often preventable through nutritional management
Post-mortem examination of dead birds helps identify welfare problem causes
Mortality benchmarking against comparable flocks motivates continuous improvement

Welfare Considerations

Daily mortality monitoring in laying hen flocks is a welfare practice that prevents problems from escalating. Finding dead birds is not the welfare endpoint — understanding why they died and preventing further deaths is. Post-mortem examination, pattern recognition, and rapid management response create a welfare improvement loop that reduces flock mortality over time.

What You Can Do

Support welfare schemes requiring daily mortality monitoring and investigation
Advocate for mortality data to be publicly reported as a welfare transparency measure
Choose eggs from certified farms with documented mortality management programs
Donate to poultry welfare research identifying the most effective mortality prevention interventions