How laying hens are kept around the world

How laying hens are kept continues to evolve. Legislation and welfare group pressures are not, however, always the defining the factors in how eggs are produced.

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Indoor cage-free systems are preferred by many producers in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia. Vincent Guyonnet
Indoor cage-free systems are preferred by many producers in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia. Vincent Guyonnet

The egg sector has seen many changes in its housing systems since the 1980s, when a few scientists began raising valid questions about layer welfare. European Union (EU) Directive 1999/74/EC banning conventional cages was the trigger for change, although the egg sector hardly reacted to its initial publication.

It is interesting to see the differences in hen housing systems around the world and how change can evolve rapidly, either under activist or retailer pressure or in response to legislation.

Since the EU’s ban on conventional cages came into force in January 2012, the EU has published a monthly Egg market Situation Dashboard, a source of data to analyze the bloc’s housing systems evolution.  

The EU’s Member States’ egg sectors have evolved in different ways since the 2012 deadline. 

In the U.K., then still part of the EU, 63% of egg product was in cages in 2005. By 2020, use of cages (enriched) had fallen to 40.4%. Free range systems grew from 30% to 57% over the period. 

Germany opted for barn, or cage-free indoor production. It accounted for 14% of production in 2005 and rose to 60.8% by 2020.  

Initially, France and Spain opted for enriched cages, housing 70% and 94% of laying hens, respectively. In 2018, they switched to alternative systems.  

At the end of 2020, data from the EU27 showed that fewer hens were housed in enriched cages (48%) than in alternative systems  33.9% for barn and aviary, 11.9% for free range and 6.2% for organic.  

Considering Europe as a whole, including countries such as Russia, the U.K. and Ukraine, in 2020, 64.7% of the estimated 623 million hens were in cages, conventional in many non-EU countries, 20.7% in barn/aviary and 14.6% had access to the outdoors.

Europe, however, is not the continent with the lowest cage use. 

Most cage-free

It is estimated that only 60.7% of Africa’s 200 million hens are caged. The prevalence of cage-free systems is due not to pressure from non-governmental organizations or activists but to economics.   

Small farmers dominate production in Africa and many simply cannot afford to buy cages.  

According to International Egg Commission data, 58% of the 45 million hens in Nigeria, for example, Africa’s largest egg producer, are kept in cage-free floor systems. Consequently, at 36.2%, Africa hosts the highest percentage of laying hens in indoor cage-free systems, ahead of Europe, at 20.7%, and North America with 18.0%.

Americas, Asia, Oceania

The North American situation is evolving rapidly with mandatory and voluntary commitments to a cage-free egg supply by 2025.  

United States Department of Agriculture data reveals that, as of March this year, 111 million hens, 34.1% of the country’s flock, were cage-free, predominantly in indoor aviary systems.  

This switch is more moderate in Canada. The Retail Council of Canada, a trade association, has committed to a science-based approach, which recognizes the value of enriched cage systems. 

In Latin America and Asia-Oceania, hosting seven of the world’s top ten egg-producing countries and accounting for 73.9% of 2020’s global production, conventional cages dominate, accounting for 91.5% of production in Latin America and 89.2% in Asia. These continents also have the lowest percentage of hens in free-range/organic systems, 0.9% in Latin America and 1.4% in Asia-Oceania. 

Globally, it is estimated that 84.2% of laying hens are housed in a cage system, 12.4% are in an indoor cage-free system, while 3.4% have access to the outdoors.   


Global egg sector fared well during the COVID-19 pandemic

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