Hen Housing

Jul 21, 2023

Egg laying hens are housed a variety of ways in Canada. Every housing system is designed to provide a clean environment, fresh food and water, and protection from predators. Additionally, every indoor housing system offers consistent temperature, humidity, lighting and air quality. Egg farmers are continuously seeking to improve the care and well-being of their hens.

Each hen housing system has its own unique set of benefits and challenges. Regardless of the housing system utilized, it is ultimately the farmer’s experience and expertise that enables the associated benefits to be realized and the challenges to be overcome. The farmer, not the housing system, is responsible for achieving Canada’s world-class standards for animal care, food quality and safety.

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.