Broiler breeder hens and cocks are chronically food-restricted to prevent obesity-related health problems caused by fast-growing genetics, creating a welfare dilemma between two types of harm.
Broiler breeder feed restriction creates an inescapable welfare dilemma rooted in the genetics of modern meat chickens. Fast-growing commercial breeds, if allowed to eat freely, develop severe health problems including ascites, skeletal disorders, and sudden death syndrome before reaching breeding age. The solution — severe feed restriction throughout rearing — prevents these health problems but creates chronic hunger that is measurable, persistent, and distressing. Restricted breeders show all the behavioural hallmarks of chronic hunger: excessive aggression at feeding, stereotypic oral behaviour, increased water consumption as a displacement activity, and elevated sensitivity to food-associated cues. This is not a welfare problem with a simple technical fix; it is structural, embedded in the genetics of modern broiler production. Transitioning to slower-growing genetics would eliminate the restriction-versus-disease dilemma, but requires industry-wide commitment.