Understanding laying hen welfare beyond egg production statistics — natural behaviors, social needs, and what good welfare looks like for chickens.
Laying hens are among the most numerous farmed animals on earth, yet their welfare needs are frequently poorly understood by consumers. Hens are cognitively complex animals with strong behavioral motivations including dust bathing, foraging, perching, and nesting before egg-laying. Frustration of these behaviors in barren environments causes chronic stress. Feather pecking — where hens peck at and sometimes cannibalize each other — is a major welfare problem strongly associated with barren conditions and high stocking density. Good hen welfare requires environments that allow expression of natural behaviors, stable social groups, and management that minimizes frustration.