Broiler breeder hens - parents of commercial meat chickens - face unique and severe welfare challenges due to hunger-based feed restriction required to prevent obesity and infertility.
Broiler breeder welfare represents one of the most ethically complex problems in poultry welfare. These birds are the genetic product of extreme growth selection - they would become obese and infertile if fed freely. Feed restriction prevents these outcomes but causes chronic hunger that welfare scientists describe as one of the most significant welfare problems in the poultry industry. Chronically hungry broiler breeders spend more time performing feeding behaviors, show higher aggression at feeders, and express behavioral indicators of chronic food frustration throughout their productive lives. The welfare solution requires addressing the root cause - transitioning to slower-growing genetics that do not require severe restriction - rather than continuing to manage the welfare compromise caused by extreme growth selection.