The quality of litter in broiler chicken houses is a primary determinant of bird welfare, with wet or capped litter causing footpad dermatitis, breast blisters, and ammonia burns that affect millions of birds.
Broiler litter welfare is a case where the welfare intervention is also the management practice that improves product quality. Wet litter that causes footpad dermatitis also downgrades carcass value; ammonia that irritates birds also irritates workers and drives ventilation costs. The welfare and economic incentives are aligned -- yet litter quality problems persist in intensive broiler production globally. The root causes are stocking density that exceeds ventilation capacity, drinker leakage that is not rapidly addressed, and the economic pressure that drives producers to push density above optimal levels. Litter quality monitoring with mandatory response thresholds is the most effective welfare intervention, and footpad dermatitis scoring at slaughter provides the most reliable flock-level welfare indicator.