Cage-free housing is an important step forward, but genuine laying hen welfare requires much more: appropriate stocking density, perches, nesting boxes, litter, and outdoor access where possible.
The cage-free transition has been an important welfare milestone, but it risks becoming a false endpoint if the industry and consumers treat it as sufficient. Hens in poorly managed cage-free systems suffer from keel bone fractures caused by flying and landing in multi-tier aviaries, crowding-related pecking injuries, and disease from inadequate litter management. True laying hen welfare requires the full expression of the behavioral repertoire: dust bathing in real litter, nesting in private boxes before laying, perching at night, and foraging on varied substrates. Outdoor access, while weather-dependent, allows hens to express the widest range of natural behaviors. Regular behavioral welfare assessment rather than just resource provision checks ensures that management translates into genuine wellbeing.