Mortality rates in laying hen flocks are a key welfare indicator. Understanding causes and prevention of hen mortality informs both welfare assessment and production management improvements.
Laying hen mortality rates are both a welfare outcome and a welfare indicator. When flocks experience high mortality from feather pecking, they are experiencing a welfare crisis in which birds are being killed by their flockmates - the ultimate expression of welfare failure in social housing. When mortality reflects reproductive system disease, it indicates that hens are paying a biological price for extreme egg production that compromises their health and welfare. Both patterns require different interventions but both represent significant welfare problems that warrant industry attention and consumer pressure for improvement through better breed selection and management standards.