Farm Animal Welfare

Poultry Dust Bathing Welfare and Enrichment

Dust bathing is a highly motivated natural behaviour in chickens that is frustrated in conventional cage systems.

Key Facts

Dust bathing is performed daily by free-ranging hens for skin and feather maintenance
Hens deprived of substrate show vacuum dust-bathing on wire floors
Vacuum bathing indicates frustration and does not fulfil the behavioural need
Loose litter material is essential for dust bathing behaviour expression
Enriched colony cages often provide insufficient substrate for adequate dust bathing

Welfare Considerations

Dust bathing deprivation causes frustration and is associated with redirected behaviours. Provision of sufficient appropriate substrate to allow genuine dust bathing behaviour is a basic welfare requirement that conventional cage systems fail to meet.

What You Can Do

Choose eggs from systems providing genuine litter depth for dust bathing
Support cage-free and higher-welfare egg standards mandating adequate litter provision
Advocate for welfare standards that require evidence of dust bathing behaviour rather than mere substrate presence