Farm Animal Welfare

Farmed Chicken Enriched Colony Housing

Enriched colony cages provide some improvements over conventional battery cages but remain significantly inferior to barn and free-range alternatives for hen welfare.

Key Facts

Enriched cages provide perches, scratch areas, and nest boxes compared to conventional cages
Space allowance in enriched cages is still significantly less than barn systems
Keel bone fractures occur at high rates even in enriched cages from perch use
Over 50 countries have banned conventional battery cages while many allow enriched cages

Welfare Considerations

Enriched colony cages represent an improvement over battery cages in providing some behavioral opportunities but still severely restrict natural behavior. The prevalence of keel bone fractures from perch use in confined spaces indicates that even enriched cage design cannot fully meet hen welfare needs at the space allowances permitted. Barn and free-range systems provide more natural environments despite their own management challenges.

What You Can Do

Choose eggs from cage-free, barn, or free-range systems
Advocate for legislative bans on enriched colony cages
Support consumer campaigns that maintain pressure on cage system phase-out
Reduce egg consumption or shift to plant-based alternatives