Welfare of Laying Hens During the Moulting Period

Forced moulting in laying hens — triggering feather loss to reset the laying cycle — is a welfare-significant industry practice.

Key Facts

Laying hens experience a natural annual moult in which they stop laying and renew their feathers
Commercial egg producers use forced moulting to extend the productive life of hens without purchasing new flocks
Traditional forced moulting involved complete feed withdrawal for 5-14 days — causing severe suffering and deaths
The US banned forced moulting via feed withdrawal under USDA organic standards but not conventional production
Non-feed withdrawal methods (low-nutrient feeds like alfalfa) are now preferred in welfare-conscious systems
Forced moulting adds 30-90 more laying weeks to a hen's commercial life before final slaughter
Some countries prohibit forced moulting entirely — the UK and EU have largely moved away from extreme feed withdrawal methods

Welfare Considerations

Forced moulting highlights a welfare tension in egg production: extending hen productive life sounds economically and environmentally efficient, but achieving it through feed withdrawal causes severe starvation stress. The welfare cost of traditional feed withdrawal moulting is unambiguous — hens that die during the process, and those that survive but suffer days of starvation, bear a welfare cost that the extended laying cycle does not offset. Non-feed withdrawal methods reduce but do not eliminate welfare concerns. The trend in higher welfare systems is to accept natural moulting cycles or retire hens at the end of their first laying cycle.

What You Can Do

Choose eggs from farms that do not practice forced moulting
Ask egg brands about their moulting practices
Support welfare certification schemes that prohibit feed withdrawal moulting
Reduce egg consumption or choose plant-based alternatives where welfare cannot be verified
Advocate for a complete ban on feed withdrawal moulting in jurisdictions where it remains legal