Keel bone fractures affect up to 80% of hens in free-range systems, causing chronic pain. Addressing this hidden welfare problem requires housing design, genetics, and management changes.
Keel bone fractures represent a significant and underrecognized welfare problem that complicates the narrative around free-range egg production. While free-range hens have important behavioral freedoms unavailable in cages, the high prevalence of painful keel bone fractures in these systems requires honest acknowledgment. Research has identified perch height, surface texture, and landing pad design as modifiable risk factors. Genetic selection for bone strength and keel bone integrity is a longer-term solution being incorporated into some breeding programs. Welfare outcome metrics including keel bone palpation scoring are increasingly included in advanced certification scheme audits, allowing producers to benchmark and improve. Consumer understanding of this issue would drive demand for genuinely high-welfare eggs beyond simple free-range labeling.