Stocking density in broiler production directly determines welfare outcomes for billions of birds. Evidence-based density limits are a critical lever for improvement.
High stocking density causes multiple compounding welfare problems: poor air quality from ammonia accumulation, heat stress from body heat of densely packed birds, increased disease transmission, greater competition for resources, and reduced opportunities for movement. Foot pad dermatitis rates rise sharply above 30 kg per square meter due to wet litter from combined excretion. Birds at maximum commercial densities cannot move freely or express species-appropriate behaviors including dust bathing. The regulatory limits that exist are set substantially above welfare science recommendations, representing a compromise between welfare evidence and industry economics that favors industry.