Advances in chicken welfare science are providing increasingly detailed understanding of chicken cognition, emotional capacity, and welfare needs.
Chicken cognitive and emotional sophistication is far greater than commonly assumed, with implications for how we understand their welfare needs. Evidence for basic empathy, maternal care, and forward planning suggests chickens have rich inner lives that are profoundly constrained by intensive production systems. Applying this scientific understanding to welfare standards and consumer choices can improve the lives of the billions of chickens produced annually.