Poll shows public revulsion on caged hens ahead of EU-ban deadline

More than half of Europeans believe hens should no longer be caged, according to new data released on Tuesday (13 October). And 75 percent of Europeans wanted the last hen in the EU out of its cage by 2035 at the latest, according to a poll conducted by Savanta on behalf of Humánny pokrok, an animal rights non-profit. Pollsters asked 25,080 adults across 25 member states for their views on keeping hens in cages. The results show that 16 percent of people were not sure when or if putting hens in cages should be banned, while 7 percent of Europeans supported hen-caging until at least 2045. The survey comes five years after 1.4 million citizens signed the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ‘End the Cage Age’ and the European Parliament voted to endorse it. ‘Now is the time’ “This data shows millions of Europeans care about animal welfare,” said Barry Andrews, an Irish Renew MEP. “Over 1.4 million signed the ECI, which was also supported by MEPs. Now is the time for the Commission to finally make a legislative proposal,” he added. The delay in tabling legislation came after Copa Cogeca, a farming lobby group, insisted that banning hen cages could take up to 15 years. But the new data says 52 percent of Europeans wish a hen cage ban was already in place. The country most supportive of a hen cage ban was Austria, where 65 percent of people believed the last hen should have already left its cage, and 2 percent said cages for hens should never be banned. Thomas Waitz, an Austrian Greens-group MEP, said an EU ban on animal cages is “long overdue” and urged Olivér Várhelyi, commissioner for health and animal welfare, to deliver an “ambitious timeline”. “This long period of indecision is not just an affront to the European consumers who want better Animal Welfare, it also harms European farmers and producers who need reliable information for their investments,” Waitz said. In Bulgaria, the member state which polled as least supportive, 33 percent of people believed the last hen should have already left its cage whereas 9 percent said cages should never be banned. Commission to propose ban In July 2026, the European Commission committed in its livestock strategy to tabling legislation for a hen cage ban by the end of the year. Before poll results were announced, a spokesperson for the commission said that animal welfare was a “key priority”. While the commission worked to assess impact assessment, it still intends “to present the legislative proposal for the first sector by the end of 2026,” they said. The commission said that revisions for laying hens, broilers, and pigs will be “evidence-based and accompanied by adequate transition periods and financial support.” “The transition to cage-free production systems will be designed to be gradual, supported by evidence and supported financially, not imposed abruptly, while also setting out the path to improving animal welfare standards in line with the expectations of citizens,” its spokesperson said. Up to 135.2m hens were kept in cages in the EU for laying eggs, representing 34.5 percent of laying hens, according to EU statistics.