The Animal Welfare Committee’s latest opinion – published this month – makes clear that moving away from cage production is far more complex and expensive than just changing the housing system.
If the transition is to improve laying hen welfare, it will require investment in buildings, changes to management practices, better training and closer co-operation throughout the supply chain.
The recommendations are advice to government and industry, rather than new legal requirements. However, they offer a useful indication of the issues that policymakers and producers will need to address if cage production is phased out in the UK.
Barn production
The recommendations examine the growth in barn production, which has seen significant growth in recent years following the commitment by several major retailers to stop selling eggs from hens in enriched cages.
Defra packing station data cited by the AWC show that free-range eggs accounted for 75.9% of UK egg throughput in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 6.6% for barn, 14.1% for cage and 3.4% for organic eggs. The committee notes that moving away from cages is likely to require another significant increase in barn production. The AWC says this will require “a significant increase in barn system production”.
But expanding capacity is far from straightforward, as has been seen over the past decade.
The AWC highlights planning permission, land availability, capital costs and the suitability of existing sites as potential barriers. Some conventional units may not be suitable for conversion to free range because of limited land, drainage, soil type or exposure to the elements. Barn housing could therefore play a more important role in maintaining domestic production as the market changes.
The committee estimates, drawing on industry information, that barn eggs may cost 5-8p/dozen more to produce than cage eggs, but around 20p/dozen less than free range. These are indicative figures, and costs could change as production patterns and market conditions evolve.
Different welfare risks
The report does not present non-cage housing as an automatic guarantee of better welfare. As the committee states: “For all non-cage production systems there are both welfare challenges and opportunities to improve welfare.”
Hens in non-cage systems have more opportunity to perch, forage, dust-bathe and explore their environment. These behaviours are important to welfare, and perching can also benefit musculoskeletal health.
However, greater movement can increase the risk of collisions and falls. The AWC highlights keel bone fractures, bruising and other injuries, particularly where multi-tier housing is poorly designed.
The committee recommends carefully positioned ramps and perches to help birds move safely between levels, with feed and water available at each level in multi-tier systems.
Injurious pecking is another concern. The AWC calls for regular monitoring of feather cover, the use of evidence-based management advice and sufficient environmental enrichment to give hens suitable outlets for pecking behaviour.
The pullet-to-lay transition
The AWC also places considerable emphasis on the rearing stage.
It recommends closer communication between rearers and laying hen producers.
Pullets destined for multi-tier laying houses should have opportunities to learn to navigate ramps, perches and different levels before transfer. Matching the rearing and laying environments could help birds adapt more successfully.
The committee further recommends comprehensive training for staff, combining theoretical knowledge with practical, on-farm experience and regular competency assessments. Delivering this consistently across the sector will require time and resources, but the AWC regards it as essential to realising the potential welfare benefits of non-cage systems.
Disease control
The report also addresses the impact of statutory housing orders during periods of heightened avian influenza risk. Free-range hens kept indoors can experience behavioural frustration and changes in their use of space.
The AWC recommends that all free-range producers maintain regularly updated contingency plans, with suitable indoor enrichment and attention to air quality. It also calls for biosecure verandas to be encouraged and incentivised, including through government grants.
The AWC also warns of the competitive risk if UK cage production is banned without a corresponding restriction on imported eggs and egg products produced in cages. That issue will be central to the debate over how any transition is implemented.
The AWC is an independent expert committee that advises Defra and the Scottish and Welsh governments on animal welfare. For its opinion on laying hens in non-cage systems, the AWC formed a working group comprising selected committee members, identified in the report as Professor Campbell, Emily Craven, Dr Troy Gibson, Stephen Lister, Dr Pen Rashbass and Dr Julia Wrathall.
The policy context
Pressure is mounting on the UK Government to phase out enriched colony cages for laying hens, following years of campaigning by animal welfare organisations and commitments by major retailers to stop selling shell eggs produced in cages.
The Labour Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, published in December 2025, committed to working with the laying hen sector towards cage-free systems. In January 2026, Defra launched a consultation proposing to ban the installation of new enriched colony cages from 2027 and phase out existing cages by 2032. The proposals also covered other caged systems for pullets and breeder layers, alongside conventional battery cages kept by smaller producers.
The consultation closed on 9 March 2026, having received 39,000 responses. In October, the Government said it was still analysing the responses and expected to publish its formal response before the end of the year.
The proposed dates are not yet confirmed legislation. The Government must decide whether to retain the proposed timetable and how to address concerns about the cost and practicality of the transition.