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"Cage-free" does not automatically mean outdoor access. In the EU and UK, hens in non-cage systems can still be stocked at up to 9 hens per square metre indoors.

She may share a shed with tens of thousands of other hens. Even in cage-free systems, crowding can limit perching, nesting, and dustbathing. Beak trimming is still allowed or used in several major egg-producing countries.

She still lays around 300 eggs a year. Far beyond the 10 to 20 her wild ancestors produced. When her production drops, she is often slaughtered at 72 to 100 weeks. Her natural lifespan is 5 to 11 years.