Feather pecking and cannibalism are serious welfare problems in laying hen systems. Understanding their causes and evidence-based prevention strategies is essential for flock welfare.
Injurious pecking presents a welfare dilemma in laying hen production: it causes severe suffering in victim birds, but the main preventive tool — beak trimming — also causes significant welfare harm through acute pain and lasting sensory impairment. The most welfare-positive approach is prevention through good management: adequate space, litter quality, dietary fibre, lower light intensity, and lower stocking density to reduce the environmental triggers for feather pecking outbreaks. When outbreaks do occur, prompt identification and separation of victims, environmental modification, and consideration of flock composition changes are more welfare-positive responses than universal prophylactic beak trimming.