Broiler breeder hens — the parents of commercial broiler chickens — experience chronic hunger when feed-restricted to prevent the health problems their genetics predispose them to.
Broiler breeder welfare illustrates a welfare harm built directly into the genetics of commercial poultry production. The animals bred to grow fastest when young must have their fundamental eating drive chronically thwarted to survive to reproductive age. This is not a management failure but a genetic one — breeding for extreme growth has created animals whose health and welfare are fundamentally compromised by their own inheritance. Transitioning to healthier genetic lines would simultaneously improve broiler and breeder welfare.