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Laying Hen Housing Facts Last updated in June 2008 

Prepared with research by Shaeney Cybulski of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.

Conventional Battery Cages are small barren cages used to house egg-laying hens. These housing systems provide access to feed and water and droppings fall through the wire cage floor onto a belt or into a pit for disposal.  The space provided for each hen varies across farms but generally 3 or more birds are housed in each cage and cages are stacked on top of one-another. Common space provisions for laying hens can be seen in Table 1 below. 

Enriched/Modified/Furnished Cages are diverse in their design and may provide:

             -   more space per hen than the conventional battery cage

             -   resources that enable hens to perform natural behaviours (e.g. nesting and perching)        

In the European Union (EU), the conventional battery cage will be phased out by 2012, and egg producers must raise their hens in either a free range, free run or enriched cage system. In the EU, the enriched cages must, at a minimum, provide 750 cm² of floor space per bird (600 cm² of which must be usable), a nest, litter, perches and suitable claw shortening devices. 

Free-Run hens are raised free from battery cages and are kept entirely indoors on a barn floor. Free-Run housing that provides deep bedded sawdust (or other fibrous bedding material) is often referred to as a Deep-Litter System.  Free-run housing does not necessarily provide more space per hen than conventional battery cages, and is not required to provide resources such as nest boxes, perches, or a substrate for dust-bathing.

While free run hens have no access to the outdoors, the barns may be designed to allow natural light to enter and the birds are better protected from external threats, such as predators.
Note: The "free run" label that may be seen on some broiler (meat) chicken can mislead consumers by suggesting that meat chickens are raised in cages. In fact, no meat chickens are raised in cages; they are either free run or free range.   

   Free-Range

Hens that are raised in free range systems are free from battery cages and are allowed some access to the outside. As with free-run housing, free-range systems do not necessarily provide more space than conventional battery cages, and are not required to provide resources such as nest boxes, perches, or a substrate for dust-bathing.

Percheries provide perches for birds, as the name indicates, as well as nest-boxes and floor litter in most instances. A perchery may house all of its birds inside, or may provide access to the outside. 

In some countries (e.g. the United Kingdom), only eggs raised in a perchery can be labeled as barn eggs, providing they meet minimum perching space, floor space, and nesting space requirements. Hens raised under these conditions with daytime access to the outside can be labeled as free range. Both of these labels garner a premium at the point of sale.

Certified Organic eggs come from hens in free range production systems. In British Columbia, organic farms are inspected and certified by the Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia (COABC), ProCert, or Quality Assurance International (QAI). Each of these certification programs features subtly different standards and inspection procedures, but all ensure a free range environment. 

Producers who label their eggs as "free run" or "free range" may well be providing a high level of welfare, if the systems are managed well. However, if the farms have not been certified by an independent body, then these farms have not been inspected, which means that consumers cannot be sure that high standards of care are met. 

Space Provisions for Adult Laying Hens

 
* the conventional battery cage is to be phased out by 2012
** cages of any kind are prohibited