Mobility & Lameness

Lameness: abnormal gait or posture caused by pain in the limbs, affecting their ability to walk or stand normally

Almost 90 broiler (=chickens raised for meat) flocks were examined in a cross-sectional study across the UK, France, Italy and the Netherlands, where 15.6% of chickens were considered lame.[S]
A comprehensive UK study using over 50,000 broiler chickens found that at an average age of 40 days old, almost 30% of the birds had poor locomotion (movement) ability and over 3% were almost incapable of any movement.[S]
A large study based on Dutch, British, Italian and Belgian broiler flocks found that on average, 57% of the fast-growing chickens had severe walking problems.[S]
In a study of 31 different broiler flocks across Sweden, 14-26% of the chickens suffered from a severe impairment in walking ability, and another 24-27% suffered from a moderate impairment.[S]
6% of broiler chickens in Denmark suffer from a severe impairment in walking ability, with 35.5% suffering from a moderate impairment.[S]

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