The global campaign to eliminate battery cages for laying hens has achieved major legislative wins, but billions of hens still live in barren cages without space to spread their wings.
The battery cage campaign has been one of the most successful in farmed animal welfare history, securing legislative bans across the EU, UK, and numerous US states, alongside thousands of corporate commitments. Yet the transition to cage-free is incomplete and imperfect: cage-free systems, while substantially better for most welfare indicators, require competent management to avoid elevated mortality from aggression and disease. The enriched cage — the EU's current default — represents a modest improvement but still denies hens their most fundamental behavioural needs. True cage-free, well-managed systems with outdoor access remain the gold standard for laying hen welfare, short of elimination of the industry altogether.