'It's time to outlaw cruelty of fast-growth chicken - too many animals suffer'

19 November 2023 , 19:30

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Birds can gain up to 100g a day

Earlier this year, I reported from the High Court on a landmark case that had potential to significantly improve the lives of Britain’s cheap supermarket chickens.

During staggeringly short lives – from egg to slaughter in 35 days – 90% of the birds raised annually for meat can gain up to 100g a day. This statistic is the hidden, dark side of our billion chicken-a-year habit. But our insatiable demand, where a bird can be bought for as little as £3, comes at a horrendous cost.

It’s hardly surprising that these fast-growing breeds, dubbed Franken-chickens, have a wide range of health and welfare issues, including heart attacks, lameness, bone deformities, muscle diseases, burns and organ failure. A third also struggle to walk and many suffer horrific injuries and illness, living in a space the size of an A4 sheet of paper.

The Humane League UK brought legal action against DEFRA arguing it had misinterpreted a key section of animal welfare law in relation to fast-growing chickens, but the case was dismissed. The animal welfare group has the go-ahead to appeal in the new year.

Furthermore, a new report by the group found that last year more than 80 million chickens died or were culled in the UK before reaching slaughter weight – a mortality rate of nearly 7%. That compares with 64 million chickens that died prematurely in 2021.

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It also found one in 20 fast-growing chickens are culled or die of illness on farms, whereas slower-growing breeds experience around half the rate of mortality. They argue the fewer mortalities alongside the lower soya requirements of slower-growing birds can contribute to lowering emissions.

Liam Hodgson, the report’s author said: “Current chicken farming practices are cruel to over a billion animals a year in the UK, and pose a huge threat to the health of our environment and population.” If Britain wants to be a world leader in environmental and animal welfare ­regulations, Frankenchickens must go.

Nada Farhoud