While more concerned Australians are buying cage-free eggs over the past 5 years, more than 5 million layer hens, or around 65-70% of all layer hens in Australia, are still currently confined to battery cages. The laying hens live in tiny cages in conventional battery cells. A chicken has an area of 550 square centimetres – less than an A4 sheet of paper. Four to seven hens live in a cage. These cages are often stacked in double rows and up to eight floors above each other. Many thousands of these cages can be stacked in sheds - sheds that may contain up to 100,000 birds.

The laying hens live crowded together on wire mesh floor, without daylight. They cannot scratch the ground, flutter their wings, or sandbathe. Synthetic vitamins, medicine and colourings are added to the feed and the daily animal losses are high.

A lack of exercise and sunlight cause brittle bones and osteoporosis. Serious injuries, such as broken bones and wing fractures, are commonplace. Standing on the wire mesh will injure the ball of the toes. Since the animals cannot scratch the ground, their claws do not wear out and the chickens can easily injure each other.

In addition to the obvious illnesses and injuries, there is constant stress. The hens cannot live out their species-appropriate behaviour in the laying battery cages: They can neither peck and sandbathe, nor stretch their wings. Resting, walking, jumping, or flying is also of course not possible.

The martyrdom of the chickens in the laying battery cages lasts about 12 to 14 months. However, five to ten percent of the animals do not survive this time and die prematurely in the cage. Often undetected by the staff, they are trampled through the bars by the other hens and rotten.

Whether cages, barren or so-called enriched cages – behind all these terms there are cages in which chickens cannot live in a species-appropriate manner!

Nine hens per square meter live in huge halls if they are kept on the floor only. If perches and laying nests are installed on several floors (so-called aviary housing), it can even be 15 hens per square meter.

Even more than 6,000 hens can be crowded into such an compartment. This overwhelms the animals when it comes to the formation of hierarchies and pecking order – this, amongst other factors, leads to behavioural disorders such as feather pecking and cannibalism and to the so called 'crowding effect' – animals step back from their normal behaviour to tolerate the high crowding for assessing lifesaving resources. This instinct is functional if it lasts for short terms, however if it is constantly overused, it will lead to stress and aversive effects for health and welfare. Crowd-induced stress is a common cause of death for barn hens.

As in cage rearing, the hens also lack employment in barn rearing because there is no green space. Behaviours such as foraging, scratching, and pecking can only be practiced to a limited extent in such an attitude, especially since the animals have less space here than in free-range husbandry. Regularly bringing in fresh litter and similar occupational materials is particularly important here.

There is no standard definition for organic or free-range eggs in Australia. Because of this, the stocking density for 'free-range' eggs can range from 1,500 chickens per hectare to 10,000 hens per hectare, the latter of which would not qualify as true free-range according to global standards.

In general, free range means chickens have access to the outdoors for at least 8 hours a day. For the rest of the night, the conditions in the shed still correspond to those of barn housing and can vary widely. A humane barn would have perches, laying nests and littered scratching areas available. With this type of husbandry, the hens' basic needs can be implemented much better than in the cage. 

While the CSIRO Model Code of Practice states there should be a maximum of 1,500 hens per hectare on an outdoor range, which gives each hen a minimum of 6.6 square metres of exploration space per animal during the day, the government standard allows for a maximum of 10,000 hens per hectare, meaning a hen only gets 1 sqm of outdoor space (equivalent to four chooks on a double bed).

But problems can also arise in large free-range holdings, for example overexploitation of the exercise area near the stall and the green area. Parasites can accumulate in puddles and muddy areas and affect the health of laying hens. To prevent this, it is necessary to regularly remove and replace the floor material near the stall. There are various ways of keeping it dry and hygienically clean, for example by pouring coarsely structured, water-permeable material. 

There is also a problem that the animals do not use the space to the full extent due to a poorly structured pasture run. Shelter, bushes, and pastures that are close to the stall, make it easier for the hens to go out, as they feel protected and can immediately find shelter in the event of danger (e.g. from birds of prey). A regular change of pastures is also necessary in order to maintain the grass turf. Unfortunately, these management requirements are often not taken into account and it is claimed that the animals do not want to go outside.

Of all the forms of husbandry, organic farming is potentially the most animal friendly as all organic eggs are free-range. However, because there is no standard stocking density requirement for free range, and organic eggs, the husbandry rules are not always observed in practice. 

In general, organic egg farming means chickens are fed organic feed produced without pesticides, chemically synthetic fertilisers, and genetic engineering. Antibiotics and vaccines are also avoided as much as possible. 

Other than that, chickens are raised in a free range manner which means chickens have access to the outdoors for at least 8 hours a day. For the rest of the night, the conditions in the shed still correspond to those of barn housing and can vary widely. A humane barn would have perches, laying nests and littered scratching areas available. With this type of husbandry, the hens' basic needs can be implemented much better than in the cage. 

While the CSIRO Model Code of Practice states there should be a maximum of 1,500 hens per hectare on an outdoor range, which gives each hen a minimum of 6.6 square metres of exploration space per animal during the day, the government standard allows for a maximum of 10,000 hens per hectare, meaning a hen only gets 1 sqm of outdoor space (equivalent to four chooks on a double bed).

In addition, the large groups can also lead to behavioural disorders in the animals. Overbreeding of laying hens is another cause of animal suffering, also in organic farms.