Cage farming is a system of confinement that severely restricts an animal’s movement and prevents them from meeting their physical, behavioural and psychological needs.

For hens, this can mean a barren wire battery cage with less space than an A4 sheet of paper per bird. For mother pigs, it can mean a crate so small she cannot turn around. For rabbits, it can mean wire cages that prevent digging, hiding, jumping and social behaviour.

Some animals, such as meat chickens and many ducks, are not typically kept in cages, but they are still often raised in crowded intensive sheds where space, light, enrichment and natural behaviours are limited.

Ending the cage age means moving away from systems that treat animals as production units, and towards farming that recognises animals as sentient beings with needs of their own.

A cage is a form of inescapable confinement that severely limits an animal’s freedom of movement and ability to meet essential behavioural, physical and psychological needs, making animals wholly dependent on human care for food, water and living environment.

• Layer hens: 
  • Hens are active, intelligent and social animals. In a natural environment, they scratch, peck, forage, perch, dust bathe and seek a quiet nest before laying an egg. 
  • In battery cages, hens are denied almost everything that makes life meaningful to them. They cannot properly stretch their wings, perch, nest, dust bathe or move away from other birds. Many will spend their entire productive lives on wire flooring inside crowded cage sheds.
  • Australia’s planned phase-out of barren battery cages is a step forward, but every year of delay means millions more hens remain trapped.
• Meat chickens
  • Meat chickens, also known as broiler chickens, are the most intensively farmed land animals in Australia by number.
  • They are usually raised in large sheds, not cages, but many still face serious welfare issues. Chickens bred to grow unnaturally fast can suffer from painful leg problems, heart strain and difficulty moving. Crowded sheds can limit their ability to rest, explore, dust bathe and behave naturally.
  • A cage-free future must include better welfare for meat chickens too: slower-growing breeds, more space, natural light, cleaner air, meaningful enrichment and more humane handling and slaughter.
• Sows and piglets
  • Pigs are highly intelligent, social and curious animals. In natural conditions, they spend much of their day exploring, rooting, foraging and building nests.
  • In intensive systems, mother pigs may still be confined in stalls and farrowing crates during parts of the breeding cycle. These systems restrict movement so severely that a sow may be unable to turn around or properly care for her piglets.
  • Australia has made progress in reducing sow stall use, but farrowing crates and other forms of close confinement remain a major welfare concern.
• Ducks
  • Ducks are water birds. They are naturally driven to swim, dive, forage, preen and socialise.
  • In intensive duck farming, many ducks are raised indoors in crowded sheds without access to open water deep enough for swimming or natural water-based behaviours. This can cause serious welfare problems for animals whose bodies and instincts are built around water.
• Rabbits
  • Rabbits are social prey animals who need space to hop, stretch, dig, hide, stand upright and rest safely.
  • Although Australia’s rabbit meat industry is small and declining, rabbits in intensive systems can still be housed in barren cages that prevent natural movement and behaviour.

Beyond ending cage farming, FOUR PAWS FOUR PAWS is calling on Australian governments, industry and retailers to help end the cage age by committing to:

• a faster phase-out of battery cages for layer hens
• a ban on cages, crates and severe confinement systems for farmed animals
• an end to sow stalls and farrowing crates
• farming systems that provide species-specific care, including:
  • Sufficient space and freedom of movement
  • A structured, enriched environment for exploration and retreat
  • Comfortable, soft lying areas for pigs and cattle
  • Elevated perches/elements for species-specific resting for poultry
  • Access to outdoor areas for exploration and locomotion
  • Species‑specific feeding that meets behavioural and physiological needs
• an end to cruel practices such as:
  • Tie-stalls
  • Cages and crates
  • Fully slatted floor systems
  • Mutilations such as tail docking or beak trimming
  • Cruel practices like the killing of day-old chicks
  • Early weaning
  • The use of torture breeds

Not yet across the whole country. Australia has agreed to phase out barren battery cages for layer hens by 2036 at the latest, but states and territories must implement the standards through their own laws. Some jurisdictions are further ahead than others.

No. Cage-free means animals are not kept in cages, but it does not always mean they have outdoor access or high welfare conditions. Free range systems vary widely too. The best choices are those backed by credible welfare standards, lower stocking densities, enrichment and meaningful outdoor access.