Farm Animal Welfare

Keel Bone Fractures in Laying Hens: Scale and Solutions

Keel bone fractures are among the most prevalent and painful conditions in laying hens, affecting up to 80% of hens in non-cage systems and causing chronic pain throughout laying life.

Key Facts

Keel bone fractures affect 50-80% of hens in furnished cages, barns and free-range systems
Fractures often occur through collisions during flight or jumping between levels
Hens with fractured keels show changes in feeding, social behaviour and posture indicating pain
Pain is estimated to be moderate to severe and fractures heal slowly or incompletely
Genetic selection for fracture resistance, perch design and ramp gradients are evidence-based interventions

Welfare Considerations

The prevalence of keel bone fractures represents a major unsolved welfare problem in commercial egg production globally. Even free-range and organic systems, often marketed as high-welfare, have very high fracture rates. Addressing this requires genetic selection for bone strength, housing design improvements and routine monitoring of fracture prevalence.

What You Can Do

Support hen welfare campaigns advocating for keel bone fracture research and solutions
Choose eggs from farms engaged in welfare improvement programmes
Advocate for keel bone fracture prevalence to be reported as a welfare metric
Learn about the research being done to breed hens with stronger keel bones