Industrial Animal Agriculture &
Farmed Animals’ Welfare

Broiler Chickens

"Broiler chickens" is an industry term for chickens who are bred and raised for meat. The name originally comes from a preparation and cooking method by which young chickens of 5 or 6 weeks old are split open and broiled (broiling means exposing food to direct heat).

A broiler chicken. Credit: Geon George on Unsplash.

Selective breeding

Commercially-farmed chickens today have been selectively bred to grow unnaturally fast and reach the size for slaughter in as little as 6 weeks. This has resulted in a range of health and welfare issues for the birds. Their skeletons cannot keep up with the growth of their flesh, causing physical deformities and broken bones from the strain. Birds with broken legs may not be able to access food or water and may be left to die or be crushed by other birds. They may also suffer from ascites - a condition in which the heart and lungs are unable to supply the body with enough oxygen - as well as liver and kidney problems.

No longer able to support their own weight, a chicken lies on their back inside an Italian broiler chicken rearing shed. This is a common issue for five to six-week old broiler chickens, leaving them unable to reach water. Credit: Stefano Belacchi / Equalia / We Animals Media.

An injured broiler chick with a broken leg. Credit: Credit Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals Media.

This diagram by Faunalytics illustrates how the bodies of today’s chickens have been drastically altered through selective breeding since the 1920s, and how much their lifespans (at the hands of humans) have been shortened.

Housing for broiler chickens

Chicks destined to be killed for their meat are hatched inside industrial incubators before being moved into huge sheds called “broiler sheds”, which can house up to 50,000 birds. The noise levels in these sheds are incredibly high, due to the sound made by so many birds, as well as by the machinery, such as automated feeding machines and cooling systems. This makes it hard for the chickens to rest. As the chicks rapidly grow, they take up more and more space, and soon there is barely enough room to move around.

Masses of 11 day old chickens in a crowded chicken farm in Indonesia.
Credit: Seb Alex, We Animals Media. 

Welfare concerns for broiler chickens

As well as the physical problems caused by their unnaturally large size and speed of growth, broiler chickens suffer health problems due to the crowded, dirty conditions they live in. The litter on the shed floor is typically not changed for the whole time that the chickens are in there (as they are kept alive for such a short time), so it becomes saturated with faeces from so many birds, which releases ammonia. This ammonia build up in the litter and in the air causes a whole range of health problems, including burns to the chickens’ feet and legs and other parts of their bodies.

A young chicken with ammonia burns on their wings in a broiler chicken farm. When the chickens cannot support their weight and must sit down or lie on their backs, direct contact with the ammonia contained in their waste can cause such burns. Credit: Benjamin Blomstedt / We Animals Media.

Welfare concerns for broiler breeders

Broiler chickens used for breeding are known as parent birds, stock breeders, or broiler breeders. These breeding birds suffer the same health problems associated with rapid growth. Because they are genetically bred to grow quickly, to ensure that they survive long enough to reach sexual maturity they are deprived of food to limit their growth. This means that breeding broiler chickens are constantly hungry and stressed. Breeders are typically kept in crowded indoor sheds.

Lifespan of broiler chickens on a CAFO

Broiler chickens are generally slaughtered at a very young age, which can be as young as 6-8 weeks old.

Broiler chickens on a broiler farm who have nearly reached slaughter age. Credit: Gabriela Penela, We Animals Media.

Further Reading