Broiler breeders — the parent flocks of commercial chickens — are chronically food-restricted to prevent the obesity and organ failure their fast-growing genetics would otherwise cause. This creates severe welfare problems.
Broiler breeders represent one of the most ethically troubling situations in modern animal agriculture. These birds carry genetics selected for extreme growth in their offspring — genetics that, if they ate freely, would cause rapid organ failure and death. To keep them alive long enough to reproduce, producers feed them a fraction of what they would voluntarily eat. The result is chronic, severe hunger throughout a 40-60 week laying life. Behavioral evidence of the suffering — obsessive pecking at feeders, aggression at feeding time, drinking excessive water to fill an empty stomach — is well-documented.