Laying Hen Behavioural Needs | Animal Welfare Hub

Laying hens have strong behavioural motivations including dustbathing, foraging, and roosting that must be met for good welfare. System design determines whether these needs are satisfied.

Key Facts

Hens perform dustbathing to maintain feather condition; motivation is strong even without substrate
Foraging for food accounts for 40-60% of a hen's active time in natural conditions
Roosting at night is a strong motivation; floor-level birds experience elevated mortality and disease
Pre-laying nesting behaviour involves extended exploration and selection of suitable nest sites
The five most important behaviours for hens — dustbathing, foraging, nesting, roosting, ranging — all require specific system features

Welfare Considerations

Laying hen welfare science has identified that meeting behavioural motivations is as important as preventing physical harm. Frustration of strong motivations including dustbathing and nesting causes chronic stress even when physical health is maintained. Free-range and organic systems that provide outdoor access, litter for dustbathing, and adequate nest provision come closest to meeting all major behavioural needs. Colony cage systems that include these features represent an improvement over conventional cages but still compromise some welfare dimensions.

What You Can Do

Choose free-range or organic eggs as a minimum welfare standard for laying hen behaviour
Support campaigns for complete banning of colony cage systems that still frustrate key behaviours
Reduce egg consumption overall to lower demand pressure on intensive systems
Learn about laying hen behavioural needs when evaluating egg production welfare claims
Advocate for behaviour-based welfare standards in egg production legislation