Modern commercial broiler chickens have been selectively bred to grow extremely fast — so fast that their bodies struggle to keep up, causing chronic pain and mobility problems.
Lameness in broilers is painful and chronic — birds may spend 76-86% of their time lying down on litter. Breast meat yield has increased at the expense of leg structure integrity. Welfare science consistently shows that conventional fast-growing broiler breeds have compromised welfare that cannot be fully addressed by environmental improvements alone.