Cages prevent hens from dust-bathing. Despite this, caged hens will attempt to dustbathe on the wire floors or on other birds. This is called vacuum dustbathing. Such stereotyped behaviour is common amongst battery hens. Pecking and scratching for food is also impossible.
Hens naturally spend a great deal of time pecking at objects.
Feather-pecking is a major problem in cages. Many hens eventually lose all their back feathers as these are easy targets for other birds. As birds are unable to escape one another, feather-pecking can escalate into increased aggression and cannibalism. This involves cutting off about one-third of the bill using a heated blade without anaesthetic. This is obviously very painful for the birds and studies have shown that the pain lasts for a prolonged period if not indefinitely.