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WHICH CHICKEN WILL YOU BUY?
Through the Chicken Out! campaign, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Compassion in World Farming are reaching out to consumers, politicians, producers and retailers to put an end to the intensive ‘factory’ farming of chickens.
We need thousands of signatures to convince supermarkets, farmers, government regulators and anyone else involved in this unacceptable business that this must change.
I feel so strongly about our chickens that I launched Chicken Out! to campaign for better chicken welfare.
I believe that the conditions in which most UK chickens are reared are unacceptable.
I would like to see the industry 'de-intensify' by lowering stocking densities, using slower growing chickens and including environmental enrichment programmes in all chicken sheds.
Standard intensive chicken is usually the cheapest on the shelf. It comes from farms where chickens are reared in barren and crowded sheds with no outdoor access, no natural daylight and little room to move freely. These birds grow unnaturally fast and often suffer from painful leg disorders, breathing disabilities, ammonia burns and lung or heart failure.
When you’re shopping, always look for chicken labeled free-range, organic, RSPCA Freedom Food or other higher welfare indoor brand. Our mini-guide to buying chicken can be downloaded here. Beware of labels like Red Tractor or ‘farm assured’ – they can all be found on standard intensive chicken.
Choose free-range or organic to give chickens the freedom to roam outdoors, grow more slowly and express all of their natural behaviours.
Choose RSPCA Freedom Food or higher welfare indoor chicken, to give birds the freedom to grow more slowly, express more of their natural behaviours, have natural daylight and more room to move. These factors make a real and meaningful difference to their lives.
And if you haven’t already, please consider making a donation – however small – to help us change to the lives of millions of chickens.
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