How enriched colony systems for laying hens compare to conventional cages and what constitutes genuine behavioral welfare for hens.
Laying hen welfare in enriched systems reflects the gap between regulatory progress and genuine behavioral welfare. Enriched colony systems provide legally required provision (perch, nest, scratch area) that allows minimal expression of core behaviors while still confining hens in ways that prevent the full behavioral repertoire of a free-ranging bird. Keel bone fractures — affecting the majority of hens even in cage-free systems — represent a significant unremediated welfare problem caused by flight and falls in multilevel housing systems. Genuine behavioral welfare for hens requires access to foraging substrate, comfortable nesting areas, perches of appropriate height and material, and densities that allow movement without competition for resources. The progression from battery cages to enriched cages to cage-free to free-range represents a welfare improvement continuum with meaningful differences at each step.