Broiler Chicken Slow-Growth Welfare

The shift from fast-growing to slow-growing broiler breeds represents one of the most impactful available interventions for improving farmed chicken welfare. Slower growth dramatically reduces the health problems associated with modern commercial breeds.

Key Facts

Fast-growing broiler breeds reach slaughter weight in 35-42 days, gaining weight faster than their bodies can support
Approximately 30% of commercial broilers experience leg disorders severe enough to impair walking
Heart and lung problems including ascites affect fast-growing birds at high rates
Slow-growth breeds take 56-70 days to reach market weight but show dramatically lower rates of lameness and heart disease
Major food service companies including Whole Foods and some European retailers have committed to slow-growth breed standards

Welfare Considerations

The welfare suffering of fast-growing broilers is systemic and affects virtually every bird in conventional systems. Skeletal pain from rapid growth, inability to walk normally, and cardiovascular strain represent serious welfare harms experienced by billions of birds annually. Transition to slow-growth breeds, while increasing production costs, produces measurable welfare improvements at scale. Corporate chicken welfare commitments that include breed standards represent some of the highest-impact animal welfare policies available to companies.

What You Can Do

Choose chicken products from companies with verified slow-growth breed commitments
Support the Better Chicken Commitment campaign encouraging corporate policy change
Reduce consumption of conventional chicken as the fastest way to reduce individual impact
Advocate for slow-growth breed requirements in institutional food purchasing policies