Intensive Farming

Laying Hen Mortality Rate Welfare

Mortality rates in laying hen flocks are both welfare indicators and production concerns requiring proactive flock management.

Key Facts

Acceptable daily mortality in laying flocks is 0.02-0.05%
Mortality above this indicates a health or welfare problem requiring investigation
Cumulative mortality over the laying period varies significantly between production systems
Mortality monitoring enables early intervention reducing suffering duration

Welfare Considerations

High mortality in laying hen flocks represents the most severe welfare outcome, indicating conditions causing death for significant numbers of birds. Daily monitoring of mortality enables rapid identification of problems. Welfare audits that include mortality rate data provide more reliable welfare assessment than resource-based checks alone. Excess mortality represents both welfare failure and economic loss, aligning welfare and production incentives.

What You Can Do

Support egg producers with transparent mortality rate reporting
Advocate for mortality monitoring requirements in welfare certification
Choose eggs from certified operations with documented mortality management
Back research into mortality causes in different laying hen systems