Forced molting of laying hens — inducing feather replacement to extend productivity — is practiced through feed withdrawal that causes severe hunger. Welfare-positive alternatives exist.
Feed withdrawal forced molting is one of the most documented severe welfare practices in poultry production. Hens denied food for 5-14 days experience intense, prolonged hunger that disrupts normal behavior and causes measurable physiological distress. Mortality during molt from starvation-related immune suppression can reach 1-5%. The practice persists in the US because it significantly increases the economic lifespan of hens. The EU ban has demonstrated that alternative molt methods — using nutritionally inadequate but edible diets — achieve similar productive results without feed withdrawal. Consumer pressure, corporate commitments, and advocacy campaigns have led some major US egg producers to eliminate feed withdrawal molt, but it remains common industry practice. Eliminating this practice is a high-impact, achievable welfare improvement for a very large number of animals.