Letting the Fox in the Henhouse: Risks, Rewards and Repercussions of GMO Usage for Poultry Production

Abstract

The global demand for food is on the increase. Accordingly, poultry has begun to rise in popularity due to reduced prices and perceived health benefits of lean meat (Dal Bosco et al., 2021; Jeni et al., 2021). However, an increase in demand for poultry has increased yearly harvest targets for farmers leading to production-centered rearing practices that have been challenged by a growing animal husbandry movement. Reducing harvest targets is not a sustainable or feasible option in the face of food shortages. As such, a potential solution to increasing animal welfare while maintaining these growth margins lies in the genetic engineering of poultry to reduce losses from disease, environmental stressors, and in-fighting between birds. This review assesses four different avenues of genetic modification and its proposed results on farmed poultry as well as the costs, both in public perception and monetarily, associated with using genetic modification in food products. This review finds that further study into genetic modification from a welfare perspective has promising results in both revenue and increased quality of life for farmed poultry.