Welfare standards for laying hens Andy Butterworth, University of Bristol, UK

Animal welfare is considered by many consumers to be an important attribute of the food that they eat, and there is an implicit assumption that, if retailers sell eggs or poultry, then the food has been produced after taking into account the welfare of the animals. However, these assumptions are not always borne out by the reality of farming systems, and consumers have expressed concern for laying hen welfare at a higher level than their concerns regarding, for example, beef cattle (European Commission, 2005).