Broiler breeder hens and roosters — the parents of meat chickens — face severe welfare problems from chronic feed restriction imposed to prevent growth-related disease.
Broiler breeder welfare represents one of the most severe and systematic welfare problems in commercial poultry, yet receives far less public attention than laying hen welfare. The paradox is stark: broiler breeders are genetically identical to the fast-growing birds whose rapid growth is considered a welfare problem — but breeders must be severely food-restricted to prevent the very diseases (cardiovascular failure, skeletal disease) that their unrestricted genetic counterparts suffer. The result is animals that spend their lives in a state of chronic severe hunger. Behavioral evidence is compelling: restricted birds show frustrated feeding behaviors for hours per day, spend more time at feeders than unrestricted birds spend sleeping, and show elevated stress indicators throughout the restriction period. Alternative feeding strategies — bulking feed with low-energy ingredients — partially address hunger while limiting caloric intake, but do not fully resolve the welfare problem without genetic reform of the breeder lines themselves.