• Livestock

A superior method of depopulating end-of-lay hens from enriched (colony) cages

The egg industry has long practised depopulation by carrying inverted hens by their legs, several in each hand, for long distances from cages to transport modules outside laying houses. This process is aversive to hens and very arduous for catching teams. This technical note describes a novel welfare-friendly method of depopulation that overcomes these problems to the satisfaction of workers, producers, processors, welfare groups and consumers. A method of moving hens from the house aisles, immediately in front of their cages, was developed, tested and put into practice on two farms.