How selective breeding for fast growth impairs broiler leg health and what welfare reforms can achieve.
Broiler leg health represents a systemic welfare failure built into the genetics of the most-farmed animal on earth. The selection pressure for maximum muscle mass in minimum time has produced birds whose skeletal systems cannot keep pace with growth, resulting in chronic pain that affects the majority of the 70+ billion birds raised annually. Research measuring broiler pain response — including the discovery that lame broilers preferentially choose analgesic-laced water — confirms that gait abnormality represents genuine suffering, not mere functional impairment. The Better Chicken Commitment, adopted by many major food companies, mandates slower-growing breeds and improved conditions. Consumer demand for adherent products is the market mechanism driving this welfare improvement.