Broiler breeder chickens — the parents of fast-growing meat chickens — are routinely feed-restricted to control their weight, creating chronic hunger that is considered one of farming most serious welfare problems.
Broiler parent feed restriction represents a systematic welfare harm unique to the poultry industry. These are animals whose genetic selection creates a metabolic drive for more food than their health can accommodate, forcing producers into a choice between allowing obesity-related suffering or imposing chronic hunger. Both outcomes involve significant welfare costs. The fundamental solution is genetic selection away from extreme growth rates in broiler lines, which would reduce the feeding drive in breeders. Consumer and industry pressure for slower-growing broiler genetics is therefore directly beneficial to broiler parent welfare. In the interim, qualitative feed restriction methods that maintain satiety while limiting calories offer partial welfare improvement.