The effects of rearing system, forced moulting and three different layer housing systems on broken bones and bone strength, were examined in hens at the end of lay. Weak bones and broken bones were more common in battery hens which had been reared to point of lay on deep litter rather than in cages. The incidence of old breaks was greater in perchery birds (14 per cent) than in tiered terrace birds (5 per cent), and there was also a difference between their incidence in two types of perchery design (17 per cent and 11 per cent). Moulting was associated with a transient decline in bone strength, followed by an increase in strength during the second lay.

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Five trials were conducted in which six methods of picking end of lay hens from battery cages were compared with three people performing the picking. Pulling the birds over a breast support slide, which created a smooth surface over the feeding trough, did not affect the prevalence of broken bones. In one trial, picking birds by one leg resulted in about three times more fractured bones than picking by two legs. This effect, however, was not evident in three other trials, suggesting that the advantage from two leg picking would only exist with some pickers or some flocks. Pulling more than one bird at a time by one leg through the cage entrance was associated with more skeletal damage than pulling birds individually by two legs. Picking the birds by one leg was easier to perform than picking by two legs.

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