UK supermarkets causing ‘animal welfare crisis’ with selectively bred chickens

The Humane League alleges that UK supermarkets are selling selectively bred chickens that grow very large and reach slaughter weight in just 35 days. This approach causes them to suffer numerous health problems throughout their lives.

According to the report, 90% of the 1.1bn chickens that are raised and killed for meat each year are bred in this way and subjected to intensive factory farming conditions.

‘The State of the Chicken Industry’ report has called for minimum welfare standards to be lifted across the board by supermarkets, and has urges major UK retailers to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).

More than 380 businesses in the UK and EU have committed to the BCC so far, including KFC, Waitrose, Nando’s, Burger King and M&S.

The Humane League said that while supermarkets including Aldi, Tesco, Co-op, Morrisons, and Lidl have announced plans to give their chickens more space, they do not plan to stop farming selectively bred “Frankenchickens”.​

BRC responds

In response, Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retailers know how important welfare is to consumers and work closely with their British farmers to ensure all chicken is produced to high standards.​

“Supermarkets offer consumers a choice of how their chicken is produced, clearly labelling different farming methods.”​

Food Manufacture also reached out to each of the retailers listed by The Humane League for comment separately.

Campaigners call for action

Commenting on the report, chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall said: "If supermarkets spearheaded the movement to stop using Frankenchickens, billions of animals could have better lives in the coming years. It would be the most massive improvement to animal welfare in the UK, perhaps ever, and businesses could benefit as a result. We must ban the breed that has suffering built in – the status quo is cruel, wasteful and unjustifiable."​

Meanwhile, senior campaigner at The Humane League UK Aaron Parr added: “It is hard to imagine a worse life than that of a Frankenchicken. What should be a lively, curious bird has been transformed into an animal bred to suffer. A Frankenchicken explodes in size. With so much pressure on their tiny frames, these birds can collapse under their own weight and be forced to lie in their own waste, leaving them with painful lesions.​

“Our plea to the public and supermarkets is to wake up. This is animal abuse, carried out against billions of birds right under our noses.”​

A judicial review appeal case led by The Humane League UK which aims to stop the use of Frankenchickens in the UK for good is set to take place in October 2024.

In other news, Mars has reached a deal to acquire snack brand Kellanova for $29bn​​, according to a new report in the Financial Times.