Feather pecking in laying hens is one of the most widespread welfare problems in poultry farming. Environmental management and genetic selection can substantially reduce its prevalence.
Feather pecking is a multi-factorial welfare problem with roots in the behavioral frustration created by intensive housing systems that deny laying hens their natural foraging and exploration behavior. Hens have a strong motivation to peck at varied surfaces and textures; when appropriate substrates are absent, this behavior redirects onto the feathers of conspecifics. Once blood is drawn, the behavior escalates rapidly and can become a flock-wide problem. Beak trimming, while reducing physical injury from pecking, does not address the underlying behavioral problem and causes lasting pain from neuropathy. Addressing the root causes through enriched housing, appropriate stocking density, early-life habituation to varied environments, and genetic selection represents a welfare-superior approach that reduces both the pecking problem and the need for beak trimming.