Farmed Broiler Enrichment and Perching Welfare

Providing environmental enrichment including perches, pecking objects, and natural light to broiler chickens improves welfare and behavior without significantly compromising production outcomes.

Key Facts

Broiler chickens spend up to 76% of their time lying down in conventional systems
Perches encourage standing, leg muscle use, and reduce foot pad problems
Pecking enrichment reduces redirected pecking behavior that causes injury to flock members
Natural light cycles improve activity levels and cardiovascular fitness in broilers
Better Chicken Commitment signatories require enrichment provision as a baseline standard

Welfare Considerations

Broiler chickens in barren houses with no opportunity to perch, peck at objects, or experience varied light conditions spend most of their lives sedentary and behaviorally unstimulated. This contributes to poor leg development, reduced cardiovascular fitness, and high rates of contact dermatitis from prolonged lying on wet litter. Enrichment provision is one of the most accessible welfare improvements in broiler production and is increasingly required by retailer commitments and welfare certification schemes.

What You Can Do

Choose chicken from producers certified under Better Chicken Commitment or equivalent standards
Support campaigns expanding enrichment requirements in poultry welfare regulations
Learn about the Five Freedoms and how environmental enrichment addresses behavioral freedom
Ask fast food chains and retailers about their broiler enrichment commitments