Hen Welfare and Cage-Free Transitions: Progress and Remaining Challenges

The global shift toward cage-free housing for laying hens represents significant welfare progress, but cage-free systems still involve welfare challenges that require ongoing attention.

Key Facts

As of 2024, approximately 30% of US laying hens were in cage-free housing, up from under 10% in 2015, driven by corporate commitments from major food companies
Cage-free systems allow hens to walk, flap wings, dustbathe, and access perches — behaviours denied in conventional battery cages
Challenges in cage-free systems include feather pecking and cannibalism due to difficulty managing flock density and stress in large multibird flocks
Perch provision, litter quality, and flock density management are critical management factors that determine welfare outcomes in cage-free housing
A fully furnished colony cage provides similar behavioural access to cage-free at lower cost per egg, though birds in both systems still face male chick culling and slaughter at spent hen age

Welfare Considerations

The cage-free transition represents genuine and significant welfare progress: millions of hens annually are now able to express natural behaviours they were entirely denied in battery cages. But cage-free is not the end of the welfare journey — it is a meaningful step on a longer path. The welfare differences between well-managed and poorly managed cage-free systems are large, and the remaining welfare challenges of male chick culling, spent hen slaughter, and beak trimming continue to require advocacy attention beyond the cage-free transition.

What You Can Do

Support cage-free commitments by food companies as real and meaningful welfare progress
Advocate for well-managed cage-free systems that include effective flock density limits, perch provision, and litter quality standards
Push food companies that have achieved cage-free to take the next steps including in-ovo sexing to eliminate male chick culling
Reduce egg consumption as a complement to advocacy for better systems
Support in-ovo sexing technology that allows male egg identification before hatching as an alternative to day-old chick culling