Summary
Note: This summary was prepared from the Plain Language Summary and the Summary and Abstract sections of the full article.
This report was prepared by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW) for the European Commission. The purpose was to describe the current husbandry systems and practices of keeping laying hens, pullets and layer breeders, along with related welfare consequences and animal-based measures (ABMs). The AHAW Panel reviewed peer-reviewed and gray literature, and information provided by the European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders and EFSA scientific networks. The data used spanned 2004 to November 2022.
Eleven welfare consequences were identified as highly relevant based on “their severity, duration and frequency of occurrence”: bone lesions, group stress, inability to avoid unwanted sexual behavior, inability to perform comfort behavior, inability to perform exploratory or foraging behavior, isolation stress, predation stress, resting problems, restriction of movement, skin disorders, and soft tissue lesions and integument damage.
Six ABMs were deemed “iceberg” indicators (i.e., relevant to more than one welfare consequence): fear response, injurious pecking, physiological stress, plumage damage, pushing/jostling behaviors, and wounds.
The Panel explicitly states that cages should not be used. For groups of 30 or more laying hens, pullets aged 6 weeks and older and layer breeders, a minimum surface area of 80 square meters is required to prevent the negative welfare consequences of restricted space. Additionally, the Panel
recommends a maximum stocking density of four birds per square meter for adult laying hens and layer breeders.
Enrichment materials such as suitable elevated structures (e.g., perches and platforms) should be provided. Multi-tier systems require additional considerations such as non-slippery perches or ramps with an angle of no more than 45 degrees. Recommendations for pullets are provided. The Panel also outlines specific characteristics for nest building materials and spacing.
Evidence for minimum and maximum light intensities is reviewed and the Panel finds laying hens must be provided with an uninterrupted period of darkness of at least eight hours, with dusk and dawn periods. Systems that provide daylight, outdoor access or covered verandas positively affect behavior. Hens, pullets and breeding birds should not be exposed to background sound that exceeds 75 dB.
While the Panel acknowledges that birds experience more severe damage by injurious pecking in non-beak-trimmed vs. infrared beak-trimmed flocks, they also assert that the process of beak trimming itself causes welfare consequences and should be unnecessary with good management practices. They outline alternative approaches to beak trimming.
The report closes by calling for unified and standardized welfare scoring systems and protocols across different regions/countries are necessary to monitor and benchmark welfare of these birds.
This scientific opinion focuses on the welfare of laying hens, pullets and layer breeders on farm. The most relevant husbandry systems used in Europe are described. For each system, highly relevant welfare consequences were identified, as well as related animal-based measures (ABMs), and hazards leading to the welfare consequences. Moreover, measures to prevent or correct the hazards and/or mitigate the welfare consequences are recommended. The highly relevant welfare consequences based on severity, duration and frequency of occurrence are bone lesions, group stress, inability to avoid unwanted sexual behaviour, inability to perform comfort behaviour, inability to perform exploratory or foraging behaviour, isolation stress, predation stress, resting problems, restriction of movement, skin disorders and soft tissue lesions and integument damage. The welfare consequences of non-cage compared to cage systems for laying hens are described and minimum enclosure characteristics are described for laying hens, pullets and layer breeders. Beak trimming, which causes negative welfare consequences and is conducted to reduce the prevalence and severity of pecking, is described as well as the risks associated with rearing of non-beak-trimmed flocks. Alternatives to reduce sharpness of the beak without trimming are suggested. Finally, total mortality, plumage damage, wounds, keel bone fractures and carcass condemnations are the most promising ABMs for collection at slaughterhouses to monitor the level of laying hen welfare on farm. Main recommendations include housing all birds in non-cage systems with easily accessible, elevated platforms and provision of dry and friable litter and access to a covered veranda. It is further recommended to implement protocols to define welfare trait information to encourage progress in genetic selection, implement measures to prevent injurious pecking, rear pullets with dark brooders and reduce male aggression in layer breeders.