The Better Chicken campaign launched by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is calling on retailers for more space, light and enrichment for meat chickens.
The charity’s campaign aims to provide slower-growing and higher welfare chicken breeds.
The RSPCA said, with chickens being the second most popular meat likely to be found on dinner plates over Christmas, that the public should choose “better chicken” this festive season.
Poultry expert at the charity, Kate Parkes, said: “The sheer scale of suffering involved with meat chickens means this is arguably the biggest animal welfare issue facing our nation today.
“Sadly, the vast majority of chicken reared for meat here in the UK are not given enough space, lighting or enrichment to meet their needs.
“Around nine in 10 chickens reared are also genetically selected to grow so fast that they often suffer from heart defects, lameness and lesions on their feet and legs, and even sudden death.”
Parkes said this is why the RSPCA wanted to act as intevener in the judicial review appeal which is seeing Human League UK trying to prove that fast-growing chickens is unlawful.
“Here at the RSPCA, all we want for Christmas is better chicken, who are provided with more space, lighting and enrichment, and allowed to grow at a more natural, slower pace,” Parkes said.
Better Chicken Commitment
The charity said it has made a Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), which is a set of requirements for improving broiler welfare driving the food industry towards higher welfare practices.
The key requirements are;
- Indoor reared birds, without outdoor access, need to be given more room in order to have the chance to peck, scratch, dust bathe and rest without being disturbed;
- Indoor reared birds have natural light provided, which means they won’t spend their whole lives in dim, artificially lit conditions;
- Provision of enrichment items, things that the birds can explore and peck at, as well as perches so birds can roost;
- No cages or multi-tier systems;
- More humane methods of slaughter – eliminating the shackling and inversion of conscious birds;
- The use of only slower-growing breed of chickens and not chickens which have been genetically selected to grow so fast they develop serious health issues.
Waitrose and M&S have signed-up to the Better Chicken Commitment so far, but “other leading supermarkets such as Co-op, Aldi, Asda, Iceland, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco are all yet to make the commitment”, the RSPCA said.
RSPCA campaigns manager, Emily Harris, said: “We have worked with colleagues at RSPCA Assured, our farm assurance scheme, to create a helpful guide to make it as easy as possible for retailers to sign-up to the Better Chicken Commitment and improve animal welfare on a massive scale, meeting the desires of their customers.
“But we cannot make change happen without the public’s support so we’re urging everyone to harness your purchasing power and tell supermarkets directly that we want to see higher welfare chicken on supermarket shelves this Christmas.
“Over one billion chickens are slaughtered for meat in the UK every year so improving the lives of chickens will have a huge impact on farm animal welfare in one single stroke.”
