The effects of body size and cage profile on the shear strength of bones from caged layers aged 72 weeks were studied. Bones tested included the radius, ulna, humerus, femur, and tibiotarsus. The ultimate shear force of the femur, tibia, and humerus all increased as body size increased (P less than 0.01). The wing bones of birds housed in high profile cages had higher shear breaking loads than birds housed in low profile cages. The ultimate shear stresses of the bones were not affected by body size or cage profile. The radius had the highest shear stress (29.2 MPa), followed in descending order by the ulna (19.1 MPa), tibiotarsus, humerus (11.4 MPa) and femur (11.3 MPa).