What specific behavioural needs laying hens have that conventional caged systems cannot meet, and what free-range systems must provide to actually fulfil these needs.
The transition from caged to free-range systems is an important welfare improvement, but it is not automatically welfare-sufficient. Hens moved from cages to poorly designed free-range systems may have access to outdoors that they never use, inadequate dust bathing substrate, insufficient perching, or nest boxes that do not meet their behavioural needs. The welfare benefit of free-range systems depends entirely on the quality of the environment provided. Well-designed free-range or barn systems that include appropriate substrate for dust bathing, adequate perch height and length, quality nest boxes, and outdoor access that hens actually use deliver genuinely better welfare than caged alternatives.