Fast growth and high breast yield linked to poor welfare

Bird welfare is compromised when broilers are grown faster for higher breast meat yields This was discovered by a major 2-year North American study involving 7,500 birds from 16 genetic strains. The analysis, carried out at the University of Guelph, Canada, found that conventional strains of broiler chicks grew faster, more efficiently and had higher breast yields than slower growing strains. But there were significant trade-offs for this high productivity. In comparison with strains with slow