ChickenOut

My big body weighs down my aching legs

Despite only being a 4 week old chick, I am spending much of my time lying down. I want to play but I’m growing too fast that my body can’t keep up and it’s difficult and painful to move. My heavy breast weighs down my aching legs so I just have to sit here in the dirt.

FACT CHECK:
Due to their fast growth rate, chickens in intensive systems have increasingly large breasts, tipping their centre of gravity further forwards and making balance and walking more difficult. During their short lifetime, commercial broilers spend over 75% of their time sitting or resting compared to less than 30% in laying hens of the same age. Selection for fast growth also results in various painful conditions such as lameness (it is estimated that at least 25% of chickens are moderately or severely lame) which makes walking even more painful and difficult.

You can help stop this suffering by signing up.