Broiler breeder chickens suffer chronically from severe feed restriction imposed to prevent fatal obesity. This represents one of the most severe and ethically contested welfare problems in poultry production.
Broiler breeder feed restriction creates a profound ethical problem: birds are prevented from expressing a core biological drive - the motivation to eat - through enforced chronic semi-starvation. Preference tests show restricted birds will work harder for food than unrestricted birds work for addictive substances, demonstrating the intensity of their hunger. The suffering is not incidental but is intrinsic to the production system. Without restriction, these birds die of obesity-related conditions. With restriction, they live in chronic hunger throughout their productive life. This welfare problem cannot be resolved without addressing the underlying genetic selection for extreme growth rate in commercial broiler breeds.