Modern broiler chickens have been selectively bred for extreme growth rates that cause chronic health problems. Breed reform is one of the most impactful welfare interventions available to the chicken meat industry.
The welfare problems of modern broiler chickens are largely a consequence of breeding selection for extreme growth rates. A bird that reaches market weight in five weeks carries a body that its cardiovascular and skeletal systems were not designed to support. The result is widespread lameness, painful joint degeneration, heart failure, and sudden death in a significant proportion of the 60+ billion chickens raised for meat annually. This is not a minor refinement issue - it is a systematic welfare failure built into the genetics of the industry's most commonly used breeds. The Better Chicken Commitment provides a roadmap for reform.