How innovations in broiler chicken housing are improving welfare outcomes and what the evidence shows about different system designs.
Broiler housing innovation represents one of the highest-impact welfare frontiers in the food system, given the extraordinary scale of broiler production and the significant welfare problems associated with standard intensive systems. The convergence of retailer commitments (Better Chicken Commitment), consumer demand, and advocacy pressure is creating market momentum for higher-welfare housing systems that were commercially marginal a decade ago. Research demonstrates clearly that lower stocking densities, natural light, enrichment provision (perches, pecking objects, bales), and better litter management each independently improve welfare outcomes. Slower-growing breeds that avoid the most extreme growth rate-related welfare problems provide additional benefit when combined with improved housing. The trajectory toward higher-welfare broiler production is positive, though the baseline remains poor in most markets.