Keel bone fractures affect the majority of laying hens in many production systems, causing chronic pain that represents one of the largest-scale welfare problems in commercial farming.
Keel bone fractures represent a massive, largely invisible welfare problem that has only been systematically investigated in the past 15 years. The majority of hens in many European laying flocks live with chronic bone fracture pain for weeks or months of their productive lives. The stoic continuation of eating and laying by affected hens means the problem is not detected through production monitoring. Addressing keel bone welfare requires genetic selection programmes, aviary design modifications that reduce landing impact, and routine end-of-lay keel bone scoring as a welfare audit metric. This is technically achievable but requires the industry to acknowledge the scale of the problem and commit to systematic improvement.