April 17, 2025
What’s really happening inside the cages of Europe’s largest egg factory?
What’s really happening inside the cages of Europe’s largest egg factory?
In late summer 2024, the Polish organization Otwarte Klatki approached Expertise for Animals with video footage and a clear mission: the recordings document the living conditions of so-called laying hens in cages.
Our analysis focused on so-called enriched cages, the currently EU-approved form of cage housing. In the European Union, the keeping of laying hens in enriched cages is permitted until 2027. In Germany, this practice is allowed until the end of 2025, when a ban on cage systems will come into force. The enriched cage systems provide the hens with slightly more space and include some basic elements such as perches, a scratching area, and nests.
Our analysis shows: these systems also ignore the fundamental needs of chickens – with far-reaching consequences for their welfare.
Our goal was to professionally assess the documented housing conditions from an animal welfare perspective, provide context, and clearly identify the underlying structural problems. In addition to obvious issues such as injuries, we also examined deeper, systemic flaws of the housing system. These are issues that may not be immediately visible but still have serious effects on the well-being of the hens: lack of enrichment materials, insufficient space, and severely limited opportunities to perform species-specific behaviors.
The result is a detailed English-language report, which was handed over to Otwarte Klatki at the end of 2024.
Based on our findings, Otwarte Klatki published a Polish report that summarizes our results and reveals the systemic cruelty in the housing of laying hens. [You can view the report here].
In our report, we identify the health impacts of lack of movement, stress, and restricted social interaction as core deficiencies of the examined conditions. Our insights are based on research into chicken husbandry, species-specific behavior, and the physical and psychological needs of birds.
The analysis shows: enriched cages also result in pain, suffering, and harm. Under the guise of minor improvements, a system continues to be used that fails to meet chickens' fundamental needs.
Our analysis makes clear that such modifications are not sufficient to address the deep structural deficiencies that come with the exploitation of nonhuman animals.
The assessment is based on video footage from a specific facility: a farm operated by Ovotek, which belongs to the Woźniak Group – the largest egg producer in the European Union. The recordings were made in May 2024 in Bobrzany (Poland) during an investigation conducted by Otwarte Klatki.
The analysis reveals numerous animal welfare-related findings, such as:
Photos of the investigation at the Ovotek farm can be found here.
Enriched cage systems were introduced as a development from conventional battery cages. Compared to traditional battery cages, hens are given slightly more space. These systems are also equipped with perches, scratching areas, and nests. The animal industry refers to these features as enrichment, though they actually represent basic necessities for keeping chickens. These measures are intended to improve animal welfare. However, the evaluation of the material clearly shows that fundamental needs continue to go unmet in these systems as well.
Chickens have a wide range of species-specific behaviors that are essential to their well-being. These include activities such as dust bathing, wing flapping, scratching and pecking, nesting behavior, and social interactions.
The absence or significant restriction of these behaviors – also in enriched cages – leads to serious physical and psychological strain.
The analysis shows that the problems of conventional battery cages persist in enriched cages.
The report makes it clear: structural deficiencies in cage systems cannot be solved through minor improvements like added features. Scientific findings show that chickens are social animals with specific physical and psychological needs. These cannot be adequately met in enriched cage systems.
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