Egg Farming Systems Welfare Science Review

A review of the research to date on physiological and behavioural welfare indicators of hens in caged, barn and alternate systems; such as free range. The report provides a summary of the advantages, disadvantages and issues of different egg production systems.

It is clear from this review that no one housing system provides superior welfare when the two measurable welfare assessment frameworks (biological functioning and affective states) are considered. Future assessments of the relative levels of welfare provided by the predominant productions systems within the Australian Egg industry should consider both the evidence of the welfare benefits of any system and the welfare deficits of the replacement systems