Beak trimming is routinely performed on laying hens to reduce injurious pecking, but causes acute and chronic pain that proper management should eliminate the need for.
Beak trimming is a welfare harm applied to prevent a welfare harm caused by inadequate husbandry conditions. Both the trimming procedure and the feather pecking it aims to prevent involve suffering. The solution is addressing the root conditions — low light, high density, barren environments, and inappropriate flock sizes — that drive feather pecking. Beak-intact flocks with good management demonstrate this is achievable.