Environmental enrichment in commercial broiler houses improves welfare outcomes and is increasingly required by higher welfare certification standards.
Broilers in barren, densely stocked environments spend increasing proportions of time lying down as growth-related lameness develops, further reducing activity and creating a negative feedback cycle of inactivity and physical deterioration. Environmental complexity that encourages movement, pecking, and exploration improves leg health and behavioral diversity. Straw bales that allow perching, scratching, and foraging exploration significantly increase behavioral time budgets for active behavior. The challenge of providing meaningful enrichment at commercial scale requires integration with routine management but is demonstrably feasible in systems that have committed to welfare investment. Enrichment benefits accumulate throughout the growing cycle but are most impactful in the final two weeks when leg problems peak.