The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is contributing evidence in a landmark judicial review at the Court of Appeal arguing that fast-growing breeds of chickens – which make up around 90% of chicken sold in our supermarkets – are unlawful. 

This is due to the serious health and welfare issues these meat chickens experience. 

The law states that animals cannot be farmed if it is likely their genetics cause health and welfare problems.

Nearly a billion chickens every year live short, painful lives as a result of being bred to grow so fast to produce the most meat in the shortest possible time. 

Consequently, the chickens often struggle to stand, develop lesions on their legs, suffer from heart defects and can even experience sudden death.

Most supermarket chickens are reared so quickly, that it is the equivalent of genetically breeding a morbidly obese 28 stone three-year-old human child. 

The Humane League UK is taking the UK government back to court after the Court of Appeal granted its case following disappointment at an earlier outcome in May last year when the High Court rejected the charity’s legal challenge against the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). 

The appeal will be heard on Wednesday and Thursday (23-24 October) at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand – and the RSPCA will act as intervener and provide vital scientific evidence.

Kate Parkes, meat chicken specialist at the RSPCA, said: “The scale of the suffering involved with meat chickens is huge – we are talking nearly a billion chickens every single year who live short, brutal lives with serious health and welfare issues which could so easily be avoided.

“It’s really important to stress that slower-growing breeds, with significantly better health and welfare, are already available and commercially viable.

“Chickens reared under the RSPCA Assured scheme are all slower-growing breeds which shows that there’s no excuse for subjecting fast-growing breeds to such misery.

“Fast-growing chickens reach the average UK slaughter weight in just 35 days after hatching – only a little longer than the time spent in the egg,” Parkes said.

The RSPCA’s Eat. Sit. Suffer. Repeat: The life of a typical meat chicken report, published in 2020, compared fast-growing breeds of chickens with slower-growing breeds and revealed that the fast-growing breeds were more likely to suffer from sudden death or need to be culled due to ill health.

This study forms an important part of the legal challenge in the case against the UK government.

The study found that, compared to a slower growing breed, fast-growing chickens were:

  • Twice as likely to die before slaughter age;
  • Three times more likely to suffer from moderate to severe lameness requiring culling;
  • Four times more likely to suffer leg lesions;
  • 23 times more likely to suffer from breast muscle diseases.

Parkes added: “Chickens are sentient animals who can experience a wide range of feelings and emotions, such as pain and frustration. They deserve our affection and respect.

“Chickens are also thought to experience positive feelings such as happiness and joy, but sadly only 39% of the public think chickens can experience negative emotions and only three in four (74%) said they think farmed meat chickens deserve a happy and healthy life.

“Every kind of animal deserves a healthy and good life but sadly most fast-growing meat chickens fundamentally do not have a life worth living, which urgently needs to change.”

The RSPCA supports the Better Chicken Commitment which encourages companies to commit to raising welfare standards across their supply chain of chicken.

Many supermarkets have made positive steps in reducing stocking density allowing meat chickens more space but failed to make vital improvements on ending the use of fast-growing breeds.

The charity is calling on all major supermarkets to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment now.

CHICKENS MEAT CHICKEN POULTRY RSPCA