Enriched colony cages replace conventional battery cages with modest improvements, but animal welfare science shows they fall significantly short of hens' needs.
Enriched colony cages represent a partial welfare improvement over battery cages but fall far short of meeting hens' behavioral needs. The 750 cm² per hen — slightly larger than an A4 sheet of paper — does not allow hens to spread both wings simultaneously. The perch, nest box, and scratch pad are provided but often inadequately sized for full flock use. Hens must compete for access to these features, meaning subordinate birds benefit least. Keel bone fractures — occurring because hens must jump to cramped elevated perches — remain a major welfare problem. The dust bathing behavior is performed on inappropriate surfaces. Enriched cages were designed to satisfy regulatory minimum requirements while preserving cage-based production — animal welfare science has consistently found them inadequate. The policy trajectory in Europe and North America is toward cage-free systems despite industry resistance.