Broiler chicken welfare assessment has historically focused on negative indicators. Measuring positive welfare states provides a more complete picture of bird experience in different production systems.
Traditional broiler welfare assessment has focused on mortality, disease, injuries and lameness as indicators of poor welfare. While these are important, they only capture the absence of negative states rather than the presence of positive ones. Broilers that are physically healthy but spend most of their time inactive in a barren, brightly-lit shed are not experiencing good welfare in a meaningful sense. Evidence from enriched environments shows that broilers will engage in play, exploration, and social investigation when these behaviours are facilitated, demonstrating that they have the capacity for positive experiences. Welfare assessment frameworks that capture both positive and negative states provide a more complete picture of what it is like to be a broiler chicken.