Conventional battery cages for laying hens represent one of the most significant farm animal welfare issues ever addressed. The campaign for cage-free eggs offers lessons for ongoing welfare reform efforts.
The battery cage campaign represents one of the longest-running and ultimately most successful farm animal welfare efforts. Decades of scientific evidence documenting welfare harms in conventional battery cages - extreme space restriction, inability to walk or spread wings, bone weakness from lack of exercise, frustration of nesting behavior - built a compelling case that eventually drove legislative and market change. The lessons are instructive: scientific evidence, consumer campaigns, legislative advocacy, and corporate engagement all contributed to change at different rates. The transition to cage-free production is ongoing and the welfare of cage-free systems continues to be improved through ongoing research and standards development.