Providing perches, elevated platforms, and foraging materials to broiler chickens improves leg health, activity levels, and behavioral welfare in commercial housing.
Broiler chickens spend most of their lives in barren litter-covered sheds with no structural complexity. The absence of environmental enrichment leaves chickens unable to express perching, exploring, and foraging behaviors that are fundamental to their behavioral repertoire. Providing simple enrichments including bales, platforms, and perches transforms the behavioral landscape of broiler housing at low cost. The welfare benefit extends beyond behavioral expression to physical health, as more active birds show improved leg and cardiovascular condition.