CALL TO ACTION: tell Labour to ban cruel hen cages NOW

In January 2026, the UK Government released a public consultation on the proposed ban of cages for laying hens, pullets and breeder layers. Whilst this is a step in the right direction, it’s a long way from a legally binding commitment to improve conditions for millions of hens, so we need your help to sustain pressure on Labour and make a ban legally binding before the next general election in 2029.

What is the Government proposing?

For commercial scale producers, the infamous battery cage was banned in 2012 but replaced by so called ‘enrichment’ colony cages. These filthy, overcrowded cages allow just 750cm² of space per hen, denying them the ability to express even basic natural behaviours such as dust bathing and spreading their wings.

For keepers with fewer than 350 hens, the battery cage has remained a very real horror and between these and the ‘enrichment’ colony cages, over 7 million hens suffer every year here in the UK.

Labour’s public consultation is seeking feedback on a total ban for all cage systems for hens in the UK. They have proposed four different options for a “transition period” beginning in 2027 and lasting until anywhere between 2030 and 2037, meaning producers could continue to confine millions of hens to cages before a complete ban comes into law.

At Viva!, we agree that all new cage systems should be banned as of 1 January 2027 but we disagree with the proposed transition period for all existing cages to be exiled by 2032. This is not soon enough, and we encourage our supporters to select “Disagree, it is too long” when it comes to answering question 12.a.

Banning these inhumane cages is just the first step towards improving animal welfare. To find out more about our investigations exposing the realities of free range farming, head to our Cracked campaign page.

How you can get involved

We urge you to take two important actions to help end cages as quickly as possible:

(1) Add your name to our petition and urge the Labour Government to legislate now and make a complete cage ban legally binding before 2029.

(2) Read through the proposal and submit a personal response calling for cages to be banned as soon as possible. The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 9 March 2026. We’re not going to tell you what to write because multiple near identical responses carry less weight than a smaller number of substantive, reasoned responses. However, here’s some helpful facts to help your response stand out and make an impact:

• More than 7 million hens still suffer in cages each year
• Enrichment cages allow just 750cm² of space per hen
• Hens imprisoned in cramped cages are denied the ability to express natural behaviours, which is one of the Five Freedoms established by the Animal Welfare Committee as a framework for farm animal welfare
• Cages restrict movement, exercise and skeletal development, leading to painful bone fractures and diseases
• Hens in cages are less able to escape stress-induced aggression, leading to painful feather-pecking
• Bans for all cages – including enrichment cages – have already been introduced in Austria, Czechia, Germany and Luxembourg
• A five+ year transition period will prolong animal suffering and serious welfare harms for millions of birds. A complete ban needs to happen now

Other helpful tips:

• For question 8 check ALL options
• For question 12.a check “Disagree, it is too long” 
• For question 13.a check “Agree” 
• For questions 44.a and 45.a check “No”

Ultimately, the only way to end the harm caused by animal farming – to animals, human health and the planet – is to go vegan. But while hens continue to be exploited, producers must not be allowed to maintain some of the cruellest forms of confinement.

Caging hens is indefensible. Let’s make it clear: we will not tolerate animals being imprisoned for profit.