Egg Laying Hen Housing
While no single housing system can address all welfare, environmental and economic concerns, a working group led by Dr. Joy Mench (University of California Davis) and Dr. Janice Swanson (Michigan State University) was assigned the task of developing both general and system specific guidelines for laying hen housing (see General Housing Guidance and Conventional, Enriched and Cage Free Guidelines).
Information from McDonald’s Agricultural Assurance Program (EU), the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply (USA) and the European Animal Welfare Platform and Welfare Quality Project has been used to inform:
Development of general guidelines applicable to any housing system and specific to conventional, enriched and cage free housing systems
Alignment of requirements and audit criteria