Providing environmental enrichment for poultry allows birds to express natural behaviours including dustbathing, perching, foraging and social interaction, significantly improving welfare outcomes in commercial production.
Poultry enrichment addresses a fundamental welfare gap in commercial production — the difference between a bird that is alive and not visibly sick versus a bird that can perform the full range of behaviours that reflect a positive welfare state. Hens that cannot dustbathe show comfort behaviours including vacuum dustbathing that demonstrate the strength of their motivation. Hens with perches have stronger bones and better cardiovascular health than floor-only housed birds. Foraging enrichment reduces redirected pecking behaviour that leads to feather damage and cannibalism. The welfare benefit of enrichment is dose-dependent — more, better-designed enrichment produces better welfare outcomes. High-welfare systems that invest in comprehensive enrichment deliver measurably better bird welfare.