“…It has already been shown that the presence of loose material is attractive for nest building and laying (Duncan and Kite, 1989), Nevertheless, a previous study conducted in similar cages showed that litter provision (feed) also provided opportimities for behavioral expressions (dust-bat hing, foraging) without affecting zootechnical performances (Guinebretière et al,, 2011), In terms of percentages of broken and dirty eggs, the results of the TO treatment were similar to those observed in a previous experiment with identical cage furnishings, i,e,, artificial turf mats in nests and PSA and no litter distribution. In TO cages, 1,4% of eggs were dirty and 0,93% broken (all confounded areas) compared with 1% and 0,8%, respectively, in the previous experiment (Huneau-Salaiin et al,, 2011b), Eggs laid outside the nest for TO were more fi-equently found to be broken and dirty, as widely reported by other authors (Appleby et al,, 2002;Wall and Tauson, 2002;Guesdon and Faure, 2004), These incidences have also been observed in our previous experiment: 0,6 and 1,1% of eggs laid inside the nest were broken and dirty, respectively, versus 5,2 and 4,8% of eggs laid outside the nest were broken and dirty, respectively, (P < 0,05; Huneau-Salaiin et al, 2011b), Although nests were always free access, behavioral observations showed that they were only occupied during the daily laying period (especially during 4 h after lights were turned on), hence decreasing the risk of hens breaking the eggs or soiling them with droppings. Perches outside the nest could prevent eggs from rolling out of the cage and increase the risk of blocked eggs being soiled by the hens.…”