Broiler breeder hens produce the eggs that hatch into meat chickens. Their welfare involves chronic hunger, health problems from fast-growing genetics, and significant neglect in welfare discussions.
Broiler breeder welfare is one of the most significant and least discussed welfare problems in poultry production. Millions of breeder hens experience chronic hunger for their entire productive lives — a welfare compromise that affects not just the individual bird but generates the genetic material for the billions of broilers consumed globally. The hunger is not incidental but intrinsic to the production system: these birds carry genetics selected for maximum growth that would kill them if fed freely, so they must be kept in a state of constant food restriction to survive and reproduce. The welfare resolution is systemic rather than management-based: slower-growing broiler genetics would produce breeders that can be fed at appropriate levels without obesity and cardiovascular failure.