Abstract
Animal breeding for welfare and sustainability requires improving and optimizing environmental impact, productivity, robustness and welfare. Breeding is a long-term exercise at the start of the food chain with permanent cumulative outcomes, disseminated widely. This chapter explains, with a focus on poultry, breeding programme design and how broadening breeding goals and managing trait antagonism results in balanced breeding and more robust animal populations. Breeding progress in skeleton and skin health, physiology and body composition, and behaviour are addressed. The economic impact of welfare and environmental improvements is worked out, and the ethical and societal aspects of genetic improvement are put into perspective. The consideration of feedbacks of all stakeholders, including customers and the wider society, is crucial. For each crossbreed, breeders will continue to improve overall welfare, health, productivity and environmental impact, but between the crossbreeds there will be clear differences answering specific demands of concepts and brands.