Environmental enrichment enables laying hens to express fundamental behaviours including dustbathing, foraging, perching and nesting that are suppressed in conventional housing systems.
Laying hens have a suite of behaviours that evolution has made highly motivating — dustbathing, nesting, perching, foraging and social interaction. When housing systems prevent these behaviours, hens experience chronic frustration that manifests as feather pecking, stereotypies and reduced welfare. The transition from battery cages to enriched systems and cage-free production has improved welfare substantially in many countries, but enrichment quality varies enormously and poor resource distribution in large flocks can negate the benefits of better housing. The key welfare measures are access to adequate enrichment resources, sufficient space to use them, and management that ensures all birds can access nests, perches and foraging areas without chronic competitive exclusion.