Dust bathing is one of the strongest behavioral needs in hens — deprivation causes significant frustration and stereotypies.
Dust bathing is not a preference but a strong motivational need in hens. Animals deprived of substrate perform the complete behavioral sequence in air — on wire or concrete floors — demonstrating the drive even when it cannot be expressed. This is one of the clearest examples of how confinement systems frustrate fundamental behavioral needs in ways that compromise welfare quality.