Environmental enrichment for broiler chickens has been shown to improve welfare outcomes, reduce leg disorders, and increase natural behavior expression.
Broiler chickens are often assumed to be passive, sedentary birds without significant behavioral needs. Research contradicts this — chickens are active, curious animals with complex behavioral repertoires when environmental conditions support expression. Enriched environments that include perches for elevation, pecking substrates that engage foraging behavior, and areas of varied texture and structure increase activity levels and reduce the leg disorders that are endemic in fast-growing breeds. The welfare benefits of enrichment are most significant when combined with slower-growing genetics that can physically support increased activity. Simple, low-cost enrichment measures are accessible to producers across diverse production systems.