Hen cages will be banned as part of a raft of proposals to improve animal welfare standards in England, the government has promised.
Pig farrowing cages, used to contain sows during birth and nursing to stop them rolling over onto their young, will also be outlawed.
The National Farmers' Union said that laws should also require food imports to be produced to the same standards to prevent unfair competition for British farmers.
The package of reforms, which also includes plans to ban trail hunting and puppy farming, have been described by Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds as "the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation", but the Conservatives said it showed Labour did not care about rural Britain.
As well as ending "confinement systems" in farming, the government is looking at outlawing controversial so-called "Frankenchickens" - a term used by animal welfare campaigners to describe fast-growing breeds.
Anthony Field, head of Compassion in World Farming UK, said the government was "raising the bar for farmed animal welfare".
Conventional battery cages for individual hens are already banned in the UK, where the RSPCA says an estimated 80% of hens are free range.
This new law will ban the use of larger so-called "colony cages", which contain multiple chickens.
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