Corporate and legislative commitments to cage-free eggs have driven major industry transitions. Understanding welfare outcomes in cage-free systems informs ongoing improvement.
Cage-free transitions represent genuine progress — the welfare baseline of conventional battery cages is so low that any system allowing movement, dust bathing and social interaction represents improvement. However, cage-free is not automatically high-welfare. Keel bone fractures, feather pecking and smothering represent serious welfare problems in poorly managed cage-free systems. The welfare outcome depends critically on stocking density, enrichment provision, lighting, perch design and stockperson skill. Best practice cage-free systems with active welfare monitoring achieve excellent outcomes for hens. The transition creates an opportunity to embed welfare assessment and improvement as ongoing practice rather than a one-time compliance event.