Forced molting

Before confinement housing with artificial lights was the norm, the Autumn molt caused a seasonal scarcity of eggs and high market prices.

Modern controlled-environment confinement housing has the opposite problem; the hens are not normally presented with sufficient stress or cues to go into molt naturally.

[11] Alternative methods of forced molting which do not use total food withdrawal, e.g. creating a dietary mineral imbalance, generally result in lower mortality rates.

[7] Temporary starvation of the hens is considered by many to be inhumane as well as a form of animal cruelty, and is the main objection of critics and opponents of the practice.

[1] In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) states In no circumstances may birds be induced to moult by withholding feed and water.

[clarification needed] Forced molting increases plasma corticosterone which, along with related hormones, decreases the levels of circulating lymphocytes and other leukocytes, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the bird's immune system.

This means that birds being force molted become susceptible to disease, particularly Salmonella infections, and may produce contaminated eggs thereby compromising public health.