Battery cages for laying hens have been banned across the EU since 2012 but remain legal in many countries. Cage-free systems vary significantly in welfare quality and understanding these differences is essential for making informed choices.
The transition from battery cages to cage-free systems represents a genuine improvement for laying hen welfare — a bird in a cage-free barn can walk, perch, nest, and flap her wings in ways that battery cage confinement made completely impossible. But cage-free is not a welfare endpoint: high-density barn systems with inadequate environmental complexity, insufficient feeder and water space, and poor lighting management can generate their own welfare problems including feather pecking, bullying, and high mortality. The welfare quality of cage-free systems depends on management quality and stocking density as much as on the basic cage-free commitment. Free-range certification with meaningful outdoor access and low stocking density represents a significant step beyond indoor cage-free, and organic certification typically provides the highest welfare floor. Label literacy matters enormously in this category.