Broiler breeder parent flocks are feed-restricted to prevent health problems associated with their genetic potential for fast growth, causing chronic hunger throughout their productive lives.
Broiler breeders represent a profound welfare dilemma: the birds' genetics drive them to overconsume food, causing health problems, yet restricting food causes chronic hunger. Neither current option is ideal from a welfare perspective. Long-term solutions involve genetic modification of the breed to decouple growth rate from feeding motivation, and this is an active area of research and industry discussion.