Enriched colony cages replaced conventional battery cages in the EU; while they improve on the battery cage, they fail to meet the full behavioural needs of laying hens.
Enriched colony cages represent an improvement over battery cages but fail to meet the full behavioural needs of laying hens. The space allowance remains insufficient for normal movement and social behaviour. Nest boxes are shared by many birds and may not provide genuine private laying opportunities. The inability to perform sustained flight prevents expression of a fundamental avian behaviour. Keel bone fracture prevalence in all systems indicates that bone health remains a priority welfare issue regardless of housing type. The welfare case for moving beyond all cage systems is strong.