Enriched colony cages — the EU-mandated alternative to battery cages — represent an intermediate welfare step that improves on conventional caging while falling short of cage-free alternatives.
Enriched colony cages occupy an uncomfortable position in the welfare landscape: they are genuinely better than the battery cages they replaced — hens can perch, access litter, and use nest boxes — but they remain deeply inadequate as a welfare solution. A hen in an enriched colony still cannot spread her wings freely, run, dust-bathe properly, or express the full range of behaviors that define positive laying hen welfare. The EU phase-out proposal acknowledges this inadequacy implicitly: enriched colonies were always intended as a transitional standard, not a welfare destination. The welfare improvement available from completing the transition to cage-free systems with adequate management is substantial, and the timeline for achieving it is a welfare priority.