Despite their short lives of 35-42 days, broiler chickens benefit significantly from environmental enrichment that reduces lameness, improves activity levels, and enables expression of natural behaviours.
Enrichment for broiler chickens operates against the significant biological constraint of fast-growing breeds with compromised locomotor ability, but even within these constraints, welfare improvements are achievable and meaningful. Broiler chickens retain strong motivation to peck, scratch, and forage despite being bred primarily for rapid growth; provision of enrichment substrates that activate these behaviours increases activity levels and time standing, reducing the skin contact lesions caused by prolonged lying. Straw bales provide climbing and pecking opportunities that engage multiple natural behaviours simultaneously. Natural light cycles promote more natural activity patterns and reduce the chronic lighting that contributes to behavioural suppression in windowless sheds. The welfare impact of enrichment is greatest in slower-growing breeds, which have the physical capacity to use enrichment more actively; fast-growing birds that are lame by week five gain less benefit because movement itself is painful. The combination of slower-growing breeds and meaningful enrichment represents the most significant available improvement in broiler welfare within production systems.