Laying hen housing systems range from battery cages to free-range, with significant welfare implications. Understanding the evidence on each system helps consumers and policymakers make informed choices.
The comparison of laying hen housing systems reveals that welfare is multidimensional and no system is perfect. Free-range and cage-free systems allow behavioral expression that cage systems prevent, but they also expose hens to risks including keel bone fractures, feather pecking, and predation. Enriched cage systems restrict behavior less than battery cages but remain fundamentally limiting. The welfare-conscious consumer and policy response is not to find the perfect system but to support continued improvement and honest assessment of the tradeoffs in each system. The trajectory should be toward systems that continuously reduce both the behavioral restrictions and the physical health risks that cause hen suffering.