Dustbathing is a highly motivated innate behavior in chickens that is completely prevented in conventional caged systems, representing a significant and measurable welfare deficit affecting billions of birds.
Dustbathing is not merely a preference - it is a strongly motivated behavior that hens are intrinsically driven to perform regardless of whether substrate is available. Hens deprived of dustbathing perform vacuum dustbathing (going through the motions without substrate), and show rebound behavior when access is restored, demonstrating behavioral need. Conventional caged systems prevent dustbathing entirely, creating a chronic welfare deficit for the approximately 25% of global laying hens still in non-enriched cages. Even in cage-free systems, litter quality management is essential for effective behavior expression.