Norwegian chicks have
health problems, little
space, and are never outdoors.
But what about their parents?
This is the story of the
mothers behind the chicken
fillets we serve on our plates.
These Norwegian hens go hungry for much of their lives
"This production may have been somewhat hidden from most people," says researcher Guro Vasdal.
Published
Norwegian chicks face welfare challenges and health problems due to rapid growth.
But what about their parents? The hens that lay the eggs, which hatch into chickens, eventually ending up as chicken fillets on our plates.
Hens used for breeding receive about half the food they would eat if they had free access, according to the Norwegian Council for Animal Ethics (link in Norwegian).
They also experience unwanted sexual behaviour – in the worst case, up to ten times a day.
What is being done to prevent this?
The parents of the large broiler chickens
Breeding hens are selectively bred to grow rapidly, ensuring their offspring reach maximum size and weight in a short time. This allows consumers to buy large, appealing chicken fillets in stores.
However, this accelerated growth often results in severe physical problems for the chickens, such as difficulty moving. Many are at risk of breaking their legs because their bodies become too heavy.
They also experience issues with their hearts, skeletons, and tendons.
When they are slaughtered, at just four to six weeks old, they are as large as they can possibly get.
Breeding hens are meant to live much longer. However, they cannot survive long in a body that grows so quickly. And most importantly: If they were as heavy as the broiler chickens, they would not be able to lay eggs.
This is why restrictive feeding is implemented, especially during their growth phase.
As a result, the birds being constantly hungry.
"This production may have been somewhat hidden from most people," says Guro Vasdal.
She is a researcher at Animalia, the primary knowledge and development centre for meat and egg production in Norway.
Frustrated and aggressive
"Parent birds have very large appetites. They are bred to utilise feed efficiently and grow quickly," says Cecilie Mejdell, a researcher and veterinarian at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute.
When they are hungry, they become frustrated and aggressive, according to Mejdell.
"This is a well-known problem and has been for many, many years," she says.
Both the industry and researchers have tried to find a solution.
"We could, for example, choose not to feed them restrictively," suggests Vasdal from Animalia.
But that would leave farmers with adult birds that have weaker legs, lay significantly fewer eggs, and experience higher mortality rates, she points out.
"So, they're a bit stuck. But we're trying to do what we can to help the hens feel more satiated," says Vasdal.
She has worked on a research project at Animalia focused on parent animals and animal welfare.
More food, but lower in calories
One aspect Vasdal has studied is the diet itself.
How much food is needed to reduce hunger in parent animals?
Vasdal and her colleagues conducted an experiment with the roosters – the ones that eventually fertilise the hens. Before this stage, the roosters and hens are kept separated.
The researchers increased the amount of food by 20 per cent, while keeping the calorie content the same as before.
The results showed that the birds given more food were less frustrated and fearful.
The slightly smaller Hubbard breed
What about breeds that have not been selectively bred this way? Breeds that do not grow so large so quickly?
Most Norwegian chicken producers use the Ross 308 breed, according to the Norwegian agricultural cooperative Nortura. This is a fast-growing chicken with parents that also grow quickly. The Hubbard breed, on the other hand, grows slowly.
The mothers of the Hubbard breed are not as hungry, according to Vasdal.
"These hens don't require such restrictive feeding. In that sense, switching to a slower-growing hen is a significant animal welfare improvement," she says.
Several Norwegian producers have already transitioned to the Hubbard breed.
Among those still using Ross 308 in Norway are Prior, Nortura, and Den Stolte Hane, though some of them also have slow-growing chickens as an option.
All of these producers state on their websites that they plan to phase out the use of Ross 308.
"A junglefowl at heart"
Most chickens in poultry houses worldwide descend from the same bird, the red junglefowl, which still lives in the jungles of Southeast Asia today.
"So if you visit Thailand or Bali, you'll still see them wandering around the forest edges and staying close to people," says Vasdal.
"Even though the hens in Norwegian poultry houses look very different from the red junglefowl, they are, in many ways, still a red junglefowl at heart," she adds.
They have the same needs and instincts, including sexual behaviour.
Roosters want to mate more often than the hens need
In addition to hunger, unwanted sexual behaviour is a welfare issue that concerns both farmers and researchers.
After 16 to 18 weeks, hens and roosters are placed together in flocks so that the eggs can be fertilised.
"A hen only needs to mate once a week," says Vasdal.
That is sufficient for her eggs to be fertilised.
But roosters want to mate more frequently. They are bred to mate with hens and are very sexually active.
"Perhaps this balance hasn't been handled well enough," says Vasdal.
Stress, pain, and fear
When a hen is willing to mate, she crouches down and prepares for the rooster to mount her.
When a hen does not want to mate, she does not crouch. In those cases, the rooster forces her down.
"This causes a lot of struggling, and the rooster scrapes off feathers and creates wounds on the hens," says Vasdal.
The issue of unwanted sexual behaviour, as researchers refer to it, is not just a concern for Vasdal.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) also recognises this as a significant welfare issue for breeding animals. In a report, EFSA states that unwanted sexual behaviour, including forced mating, can cause stress, pain, and fear in hens.
Seven to ten times a day
The act itself is quick – perhaps two seconds – and then it's over, according to Vasdal.
Researchers do not know how hens perceive the rooster forcing himself on them. Vasdal has spent a lot of time observing poultry flocks.
"It's difficult to determine how many of the matings are voluntary and how many are not," she says.
She explains that there is no Norwegian research on how often hens and roosters mate, but a Dutch study shows that a rooster mates about ten times a day, with each hen being mated twice daily.
"And the hen doesn't want that," she says.
Fewer roosters?
The solution might seem simple: Why not just reduce the number of roosters?
Fewer roosters would mean fewer instances of unwanted sexual behaviour, as there would be fewer roosters per hen.
This is something both farmers and producers are working on, and Guro Vasdal plans to continue researching this topic. However, the challenge with having fewer roosters is that farmers risk not all eggs being fertilised, which would lead to financial losses.
"It might work fine with fewer roosters until around week 35. Then, if something suddenly happens to a few of them and they need to be removed from the flock, it can be problematic," says Vasdal.
This could leave the farmer with 20 weeks where there are not enough roosters to fertilise the eggs.
That is a risk farmers cannot afford to take.
"The economic pressure on Norwegian farms are so tight that farmers must prioritise what yields the best results. They can't risk eggs not being fertilised," she says.
Tougher chicken meat
What happens to hens after they have laid their last egg and hatched their last broiler chicken?
A few are slaughtered and sold as chicken meat, but most are euthanised with gas on the farms, according to Animalia (link in Norwegian).
The reason so few are used for food is that hens have less meat than broiler chickens. Hen meat is also known to be tougher and requires longer cooking times to become tender, making it less desirable for stores.
Will be monitored by the government
The situation for breeding animals was addressed in several contributions to the new animal welfare report.
The Norwegian Veterinary Institute wrote that restrictive feeding leads to hunger, frustration, and reduced animal welfare. They called for measures to improve conditions for breeding animals.
Animal welfare organisation Noah argued that restrictive feeding cannot be solved by simply switching to slower-growing breeds like Hubbard. These breeds also experience hunger because they are too heavy for their own legs, according to Noah.
The animal welfare report, released in December 2024, describes the suffering of breeding animals. However, the government has not proposed specific measures. Instead, they plan to monitor the industry's transition to slower-growing broiler chickens. If this shift does not happen as planned, they will consider introducing regulations.
Photo of hen at the top of the article: Photo: Jonas Ruud/Animalia
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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