Comparing conventional battery cages to enriched colony cages for laying hens, and the welfare implications of each housing system.
Laying hens in battery cages experience chronic frustration because they cannot perform instinctive behaviors. Bone fractures are common due to severe space restriction and calcium depletion from continuous egg-laying. Enriched cages reduce stereotypic behaviors and bone breakage, but cage-free and free-range systems allow fuller behavioral expression. The transition to enriched or cage-free housing is one of the most impactful interventions available for farm animal welfare given the scale of the industry.