Dr. Joel Mead of the University of Liverpool U.K., recently published on the transition from free-range egg production prior to 1950 to cage production during the 1960s and 1970s. Following concerted opposition to cage-housing of hens, legislation was enacted in the U.K and for the EU banning this system. Market pressures resulted in differentiation of housing among enriched colony modules, free-roaming but confined to barns and to free-range by the beginning of this century.  It is estimated that 60 percent of hens in the U. K. were allowed outside access prior to the emergence of the 2022 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) epornitic.

Apart from HPAI, the sharp increase in the price of feed, occasioned by the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, has hastened the demise of the free-range system.  Although the industry will not revert to cages based on public sentiment, barn housing will most probably be the standard going forward unless an effective vaccine is universally administered.  

The financial plight of free-range farmers was exacerbated by the reluctance of retail chains to adjust wholesale prices for eggs to compensate for increased costs for feed, energy and labor. These factors forced many producers to cease production.  Some retail chains were obliged to make ex gratia payments to producers to reestablish production. During the fourth quarter of 2022, retail egg prices soared due to disruption of the supply chain. In many stores, shelves were empty, leading to consumer disaffection. The entire U.K. food system has been stressed since the advent of Brexit, resulting in shortages of leafy greens and a rise in price of dairy products.

At the present time, consumers are more interested in the availability and price of eggs and other food essentials than they are with the rapidly diminishing considerations of sustainability and welfare.  The U.K. situation has clear messages for the U.S. as evidenced by the situation following the advent of HPAI in 2012.