Laying hens are among the most numerous farmed animals globally, and their welfare depends on housing system, management, and access to natural behaviors.
Laying hen welfare spans the entire production cycle from hatchery conditions through housing and management to end-of-life slaughter. In enriched colony cages, hens have more space than in battery cages but remain unable to fully express dust bathing, wing spreading, and foraging behaviors. In barn and free-range systems, behavioral expression is greater but mortality from injurious pecking can be higher in poorly managed flocks. Keel bone fractures — painful breaks to the sternum caused by collision with perches and falls — affect 50-80% of hens in many systems and represent a major welfare concern that crosses all housing systems. Addressing keel bone welfare requires improvements in perch design, breed selection, and housing layout.