Thanks for the post, Whitney and Lily, and welcome to the EA Forum! I did not know there were lots of broilers in cages.
Scale: China raises ~15 billion broiler chickens annually, and ~10 billion (60–70%) spend their lives in cramped cages with even less space than battery-caged layers. This is 2x the total number of caged laying hens worldwide, with severe welfare implications.
What are your sources for this? I only found 2 links to the Lever Foundation across the whole post.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), only 11.6 billion chickens were slaughtered for meat in China in 2023. This includes broilers and laying hens, and is 77.3 % (= 11.6*10^9/(15*10^9)) of your number for broilers.
FAO says there were 8.44 billion laying hens alive globally in 2023. Your numbers above imply 5 billion (= 10*10^9/2) laying hens alive in cages globally, which would mean 59.2 % (= 5*10^9/(8.44*10^9)) of laying hens globally in cages. I think the actual fraction of laying hens in cages is much higher. Even in the European Union (EU), there is still 38.1 % of hens in cages.
Maybe you meant 5 billion laying hens raised in cages are slaughtered per year globally, as you made a comparison with the number of broilers raised in cages in China that are slaughtered per year. However, as far as I know, the FAO does not provide data for the number of laying hens slaughtered per year.
I think the number of animals alive is a better proxy for the scale of the problem than the number of animals slaughtered. All else equal, the scale is larger for animals living longer, and only the number of animals alive accounts for this. This means using the number of animals alive underestimates the suffering of laying hens relative to broilers, which live shorter lives. The Welfare Footprint Institute (WFI) assumes laying hens live for “60 to 80 weeks” (including the pre-laying phase), and says the “average slaughter weight of broilers in the EU [European Union] and the US [United States] is, respectively, 2.5 Kg and 2.9 Kg, reached at 42 and 47 days”.
Ideally, one would also account for different welfare per animal-year. I estimatethat broilers in a conventional scenario have a (negative) welfare per animal-year equal to 1.34 (= −2.40/(-1.79)) times that of laying hens in conventional cages. In other words, only accounting for effects on chickens (not onsoil animals), I believe 1 conventional-broiler-year less is as good as 1.34 conventional-layer-years less. Accounting for different conditions and population size, I calculate the total (negative) welfare of broilers globally is 2.99 (= −2.16*10^9/(-7.23*10^8)) times that of laying hens globally.
Similarly, you can also see here China’s National Bureau of Statistics report here on 17.4 billion poultry raised for meat: https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/sjjd/202501/t20250117_1958344.html. (Note, this number combines both chickens and ducks, thus the discrepancy with the 14.8 billion broiler chickens noted above.)
15 billion therefore appears to be the correct approximate number of broiler chickens raised per year, at least according to Chinese government statistics (which may not be perfectly accurate, but are likely more accurate than FAO estimates).
RE: the number of egg-laying hens in cages globally:
Our comment that there are twice as many chickens in broiler chickens in China as egg-laying hens in cages globally is certainly meant as a very rough estimate, and you’re right that that estimate did indeed account for the fact that egg-laying hens typically are raised for close to 18 months. (That estimate was meant to be “number of lives per year of production”, so egg-laying hen years were pro-rated by 2⁄3).
If instead we calculated on the discreet number of animals in cages per year, we estimate it would look more like 6.5 billion egg-laying hens are in cages each year globally and 10.5 billion broiler chickens in cages in China each year, and thus 1.6x as many broiler chickens in cages, as opposed to roughly 2x as many.
RE: Comparing number of animals vs number of animal years
Yes we would agree with you—ultimately, what matters is the number of animals impacted each day, and thus 1 egg-laying hen in a cage is equivalent to (in China, where broilers live a bit longer than in the West) about 6.5 broiler chickens in a cage. In terms of then adjusting for how much each animal suffers, we haven’t looked into your calculations of broilers vs egg laying hens, but agree on the importance of factoring that in.
General note:
The post was not meant to suggest that the caged confinement of broiler chickens is overall worse than the caged confinement of egg-laying hens, or to provide a quantified comparison of the suffering involved with each. We think that, overall, the suffering of egg-laying hens is surely a bigger problem, and as an organization, we spend more time and resources on ending the caged confinement of egg-laying hens. (We generated approximately 60 corporate commitments to end the use of caged eggs this year).
The goal with the post was to give a general overview of the situation for caged broiler chickens because it is relatively unknown; because it appears uniquely tractable (for the reasons described in the post), and because any way you cut it it is a very major problem (ie even if you look at it on the per day level, on any given day there are ~7 times as many broiler chickens in cages in China as there are egg-laying hens in cages in the US and EU combined.)
Nitpick. ”/” at the end has to be removed for the link to work.
6.5 billion egg-laying hens are in cages each year globally
This implies 23.0 % (= 1 − 6.5*10^9/(8.44*10^9)) of all laying hens outside cages assuming 8.44 billion laying hens as reported by FAO. I believe this fraction is too high. How did you get the 6.5 billion laying hens in cages globally? Do you think there are more than 8.44 billion laying hens globally?
any way you cut it it [broilers in cages] is a very major problem
Thank you for your response, Vasco, and appreciate the attention!
23% is a roughly accurate percentage of laying hens outside of cages globally. Numerically, this would be ~2 billion hens outside of cages. Factors that build to that number include the sizable proportion of modern cage-free production in the US, Europe, and a few smaller by volume regions (ex Oceania); sizable cage-free production in India; a large number of cage-free hens in China, even though the percentage of overall production is only ~10%; and, most importantly, in a number of countries in Asia (including major egg producing ones like Indonesia and Bangladesh) and most countries in Africa, a sizeable portion of egg production being cage-free because it is small backyard/local production that is free-range or similar.
For what it’s worth, we are not trying to make a precise numeric calculation here, just give a sense of the size of the issue of caged confinement of poultry in China. That ratio of 2x or 1.6x (depending on how you calculate it) would go down if you estimate a lower percentage of global egg production is cage-free, but it would go up if we factor in say ducks raised for meat in China, of which approximately 2 billion are also raised in similar cage systems each year and for which the same logic and opportunity described above also applies.. That ratio would also go up if we project current trends and commitments forward several years (factoring in the trend toward cage-free systems in some markets and the continued shift to caged confinement of broilers in China). Depending on which of these things we do or don’t factor in here, maybe you get 1.3x on the lowest end or 2.5x on the high end. 2x is a very loose average.
But regardless of the specific assumptions and whether that leads to 1.3x or 2.5x more birds in cages in China for meat than birds in cages for eggs globally, it probably doesn’t really matter in terms of the general purpose of the post.
But regardless of the specific assumptions and whether that leads to 1.3x or 2.5x more birds in cages in China for meat than birds in cages for eggs globally, it probably doesn’t really matter in terms of the general purpose of the post.
Thanks for the post, Whitney and Lily, and welcome to the EA Forum! I did not know there were lots of broilers in cages.
What are your sources for this? I only found 2 links to the Lever Foundation across the whole post.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), only 11.6 billion chickens were slaughtered for meat in China in 2023. This includes broilers and laying hens, and is 77.3 % (= 11.6*10^9/(15*10^9)) of your number for broilers.
FAO says there were 8.44 billion laying hens alive globally in 2023. Your numbers above imply 5 billion (= 10*10^9/2) laying hens alive in cages globally, which would mean 59.2 % (= 5*10^9/(8.44*10^9)) of laying hens globally in cages. I think the actual fraction of laying hens in cages is much higher. Even in the European Union (EU), there is still 38.1 % of hens in cages.
Maybe you meant 5 billion laying hens raised in cages are slaughtered per year globally, as you made a comparison with the number of broilers raised in cages in China that are slaughtered per year. However, as far as I know, the FAO does not provide data for the number of laying hens slaughtered per year.
I think the number of animals alive is a better proxy for the scale of the problem than the number of animals slaughtered. All else equal, the scale is larger for animals living longer, and only the number of animals alive accounts for this. This means using the number of animals alive underestimates the suffering of laying hens relative to broilers, which live shorter lives. The Welfare Footprint Institute (WFI) assumes laying hens live for “60 to 80 weeks” (including the pre-laying phase), and says the “average slaughter weight of broilers in the EU [European Union] and the US [United States] is, respectively, 2.5 Kg and 2.9 Kg, reached at 42 and 47 days”.
Ideally, one would also account for different welfare per animal-year. I estimate that broilers in a conventional scenario have a (negative) welfare per animal-year equal to 1.34 (= −2.40/(-1.79)) times that of laying hens in conventional cages. In other words, only accounting for effects on chickens (not on soil animals), I believe 1 conventional-broiler-year less is as good as 1.34 conventional-layer-years less. Accounting for different conditions and population size, I calculate the total (negative) welfare of broilers globally is 2.99 (= −2.16*10^9/(-7.23*10^8)) times that of laying hens globally.
Hi @Vasco Grilo🔸 , thanks for your comments! Below are some sources for those data points, and replies:
RE: The number of broiler chickens raised in China annually:
China’s Ministry of Agriculture reported there were 14.8 billion broiler chickens raised in 2024. You can see a news article on this here: https://zootecnicainternational.com/field-reports/middle-far-east/chinese-broiler-production-reaches-record-high-amid-challenges/
Similarly, you can also see here China’s National Bureau of Statistics report here on 17.4 billion poultry raised for meat: https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/sjjd/202501/t20250117_1958344.html. (Note, this number combines both chickens and ducks, thus the discrepancy with the 14.8 billion broiler chickens noted above.)
15 billion therefore appears to be the correct approximate number of broiler chickens raised per year, at least according to Chinese government statistics (which may not be perfectly accurate, but are likely more accurate than FAO estimates).
RE: the number of egg-laying hens in cages globally:
Our comment that there are twice as many chickens in broiler chickens in China as egg-laying hens in cages globally is certainly meant as a very rough estimate, and you’re right that that estimate did indeed account for the fact that egg-laying hens typically are raised for close to 18 months. (That estimate was meant to be “number of lives per year of production”, so egg-laying hen years were pro-rated by 2⁄3).
If instead we calculated on the discreet number of animals in cages per year, we estimate it would look more like 6.5 billion egg-laying hens are in cages each year globally and 10.5 billion broiler chickens in cages in China each year, and thus 1.6x as many broiler chickens in cages, as opposed to roughly 2x as many.
RE: Comparing number of animals vs number of animal years
Yes we would agree with you—ultimately, what matters is the number of animals impacted each day, and thus 1 egg-laying hen in a cage is equivalent to (in China, where broilers live a bit longer than in the West) about 6.5 broiler chickens in a cage. In terms of then adjusting for how much each animal suffers, we haven’t looked into your calculations of broilers vs egg laying hens, but agree on the importance of factoring that in.
General note:
The post was not meant to suggest that the caged confinement of broiler chickens is overall worse than the caged confinement of egg-laying hens, or to provide a quantified comparison of the suffering involved with each. We think that, overall, the suffering of egg-laying hens is surely a bigger problem, and as an organization, we spend more time and resources on ending the caged confinement of egg-laying hens. (We generated approximately 60 corporate commitments to end the use of caged eggs this year).
The goal with the post was to give a general overview of the situation for caged broiler chickens because it is relatively unknown; because it appears uniquely tractable (for the reasons described in the post), and because any way you cut it it is a very major problem (ie even if you look at it on the per day level, on any given day there are ~7 times as many broiler chickens in cages in China as there are egg-laying hens in cages in the US and EU combined.)
Thanks for the follow-up, Whitney! I strongly upvoted it.
I have shared the estimates you provided with one person from the FAO.
Nitpick. ”/” at the end has to be removed for the link to work.
This implies 23.0 % (= 1 − 6.5*10^9/(8.44*10^9)) of all laying hens outside cages assuming 8.44 billion laying hens as reported by FAO. I believe this fraction is too high. How did you get the 6.5 billion laying hens in cages globally? Do you think there are more than 8.44 billion laying hens globally?
Makes sense!
Thank you for your response, Vasco, and appreciate the attention!
23% is a roughly accurate percentage of laying hens outside of cages globally. Numerically, this would be ~2 billion hens outside of cages. Factors that build to that number include the sizable proportion of modern cage-free production in the US, Europe, and a few smaller by volume regions (ex Oceania); sizable cage-free production in India; a large number of cage-free hens in China, even though the percentage of overall production is only ~10%; and, most importantly, in a number of countries in Asia (including major egg producing ones like Indonesia and Bangladesh) and most countries in Africa, a sizeable portion of egg production being cage-free because it is small backyard/local production that is free-range or similar.
For what it’s worth, we are not trying to make a precise numeric calculation here, just give a sense of the size of the issue of caged confinement of poultry in China. That ratio of 2x or 1.6x (depending on how you calculate it) would go down if you estimate a lower percentage of global egg production is cage-free, but it would go up if we factor in say ducks raised for meat in China, of which approximately 2 billion are also raised in similar cage systems each year and for which the same logic and opportunity described above also applies.. That ratio would also go up if we project current trends and commitments forward several years (factoring in the trend toward cage-free systems in some markets and the continued shift to caged confinement of broilers in China). Depending on which of these things we do or don’t factor in here, maybe you get 1.3x on the lowest end or 2.5x on the high end. 2x is a very loose average.
But regardless of the specific assumptions and whether that leads to 1.3x or 2.5x more birds in cages in China for meat than birds in cages for eggs globally, it probably doesn’t really matter in terms of the general purpose of the post.
Thanks for the additional context!
Agreed.