The broiler industry is the process by which broiler chickens are reared and prepared for meat consumption. Worldwide, in 2005 production was 71,851,000 tonnes. From 1985 to 2005, the broiler industry grew by 158%.

A key measure of performance is the feed conversion ratio (FCR), the ability to convert feed into edible product. In 2018 the FCR of broilers is about 1.5, or 1.5 kg of feed to produce 1 kg of meat. This compares very favorably with other sources of meat.

It is estimated that broilers produce 6 kg of greenhouse gas per 1 kg of meat, as compared to 60 kg GHG /kg for beef cattle.

In the 1980s, it was typical to produce a 2 kilogram chicken in 70 days. By 2018, this had reduced to just 29 days to produce a bird of the same weight.

The broiler production process is very much an industrial one. There are several distinct components of the broiler supply chain.

The "primary breeding sector" consists of companies that breed pedigree stock. Pedigree stock ("pure line") is kept on high level biosecure farms. Eggs are hatched in a special pedigree hatchery and their progeny then goes on to the great-grandparent (GGP) and grandparent (GP) generations. These eggs would then go to a special GP hatchery to produce Parent Stock (PS) which passes to the production sector.

In 2006, out of an estimated world population of 18 billion poultry, about 3% are breeding stock. The US supplied about 1/4 of world GP stock.

Worldwide, the primary sector produced 417 million parent stock (PS) per year.