Broiler chickens raised for meat are one of the most numerically significant welfare challenges in animal agriculture. Modern broiler breeds grow so rapidly that chronic health problems are endemic.
Broiler welfare represents the largest preventable welfare problem by individual animal numbers in animal agriculture. The genetic selection for rapid growth has created breeds whose bodies fail them before they reach the end of their short lives. Lameness, cardiac failure, and respiratory distress are predictable outcomes of extreme growth selection. The transition to slower-growing breeds is achievable, economically manageable, and would improve welfare for tens of billions of animals annually.