Improving the welfare of laying hens

** If there is any doubt that management changes will impact on compliance with standards, Soil Association producers should consult with their Certification Officers.

Welfare guides

 Feather cover advice guide [pdf, 662 KB], produced in partnership with FeatherWel and BEIC

Other resources

   
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  FeatherWel provides advice on practical strategies to reduce the risk of injurious pecking occurring in non-cage laying hens both during the rearing and laying periods. www.featherwel.org and Improving feather cover management guide [pdf, 5.49 MB]         

• Case Study: What changes have producers made to improve laying hen welfare this year? (Nov 2012 - Sept 2013) [pdf, 927 KB]
• Case Study: Orchard Organic Farm - Reducing injurious feather pecking in a developing organic egg enterprise [pdf, 706 KB]
   
• Range cover
  • Guidance on meeting RSPCA Laying Hen Standard R5.1: Providing Natural Range Cover [pdf, 875 KB]
  • Woodland Trust: The role of trees in free range poultry farming [pdf, 4.5 MB]
  • A Woodland Trust guide to tree planting for free range poultry [pdf, 628 KB]
  • Woodland Trust: Trees mean better business (case study) [pdf, 1,914 KB]

• An output from the 2014 International Keel Bone Damage Workshop: Perch Design for Alternative Egg Producing Systems [pdf, 336 KB]

• Injurious Feather Pecking in Laying Hens – Soil Association Technical Guide
  Managing organic laying hens – Soil Association Technical Guides
  Range management in poultry – Soil Association Technical Guide
  Please contact producer.support@soilassociation.org for copies of these technical guides


• Compassion in World Farming Report - Controlling feather pecking and cannibalism in laying hens without beak trimming [pdf, 220 KB]
   
• Defra Guide - A guide to the practical management of feather pecking and cannibalism in free range laying hens [pdf, 503 KB]
   
• SAC Organic technical summary - Preventing and coping with feather pecking [pdf,418 KB] 

More information resources on improving the welfare of laying hens coming soon. For further details on the above, or if you would like to discuss any specific welfare issues with your flocks, contact the AssureWel advisory support service animalwelfareadvisor@assurewel.org