Dust bathing is a fundamental behavioral need for chickens that cannot be suppressed even in barren conditions, making the provision of appropriate substrate a basic welfare requirement.
Dust bathing is not optional behavior for chickens — it is a deeply ingrained instinct that serves skin conditioning and parasite control functions. Hens in cages that cannot dust bathe show measurable frustration through vacuum bathing and stereotypic behavior. Even in cage-free systems, litter management failures that produce wet, compacted, or absent litter effectively deprive hens of this fundamental welfare need. Ensuring clean, dry, deep litter in sufficient quantity across cage-free systems is one of the most welfare-critical management priorities in commercial egg production.