The welfare of broiler breeder chickens — the parents of fast-growing commercial meat birds — involves a unique and severe tension between breed physiology and reproductive requirements.
Broiler breeders occupy a particularly cruel welfare paradox: they are genetically programmed to eat continuously but must be severely feed-restricted to survive to reproductive age and function as breeding animals. Chronic hunger is their baseline state throughout their productive lives. Behavioural evidence — stereotypic repetition, increased aggression, excessive water drinking — indicates that these animals are in genuine distress from unmet hunger drives. Alternative slow-growing parent lines that can feed ad libitum are being developed, but industry uptake has been slow due to cost.