Slow-growing chicken breeds, which reach market weight over 56 or more days rather than the standard 42 days, show dramatically better welfare outcomes across multiple indicators and are increasingly required by major retailers and welfare certifications.
The shift from fast-growing to slow-growing breeds represents the single most impactful welfare intervention available in commercial broiler chicken production. The welfare improvements are substantial and documented across multiple welfare indicators simultaneously — leg health, cardiovascular fitness, immune function, and behavioral activity all improve significantly with slower growth. The cost difference, while real, is modest in absolute terms and well within what consumers have shown willingness to pay for labeled higher-welfare products in market research. The existence of commercially successful slow-growing systems in Europe demonstrates that the transition is economically viable at scale.