Perching is a natural and highly motivated behavior in chickens that reflects their evolutionary heritage as tree-roosting birds, with deprivation causing both welfare and health consequences.
Perching behavior in hens is strongly motivated by evolutionary heritage — these are birds whose ancestors roosted in trees to avoid ground predators. The drive to perch is independent of current predation threat; it persists in domesticated birds whose wild ancestors roosted in trees for millions of years. Providing appropriate perching that hens can use without injury requires attention to perch height, design, number and positioning. Poorly designed perches that hens fall from create the very keel bone injuries they were intended to prevent. This welfare problem is technically solvable with good perch design — the challenge is translating design evidence into industry practice and certification requirements.