Dust bathing is a highly motivated behaviour in laying hens that serves important skin and feather maintenance functions. Restricting this behaviour has clear welfare costs.
Dust bathing is not merely a preference but a strong biological need in hens. The vacuum dust bathing observed in hens without substrate — performing the full behavioural sequence in the air — demonstrates that the motivation to dust bathe persists even when the environment cannot support it. This frustrated motivation is a welfare indicator of chronic environmental inadequacy. Providing adequate litter depth and quality allows hens to perform complete, satisfying dust bathing sequences, with measurable benefits for feather condition, skin health, and behavioural state. The provision of dust bathing opportunities is one of the most impactful single enrichment interventions available in laying hen systems.