Broiler breeder hens - the parent stock that produce meat chicken eggs - face severe welfare problems from chronic hunger required to control their weight.
Broiler breeder welfare represents perhaps the most severe systemic welfare problem in poultry farming that receives the least public attention. These birds have been bred to grow at rates their bodies cannot sustain at normal weight through adulthood - maintaining them as breeding adults requires chronic feed restriction causing ongoing hunger. The welfare evidence is unambiguous: these birds experience persistent food motivation, show stress behaviors, and have compromised welfare throughout their productive lives. The solution requires breeding program reform to develop parent stock that can be maintained at healthy weights for reproductive purposes - a longer-term genetic change than immediate management improvements.