Born to suffer
Chickens are bred to grow unnaturally large and unnaturally quickly – the result of extreme genetics. Due to their overgrown size and speed, these chickens face terrible suffering such as:
- Painful lameness
- Overworked hearts and lungs
- Wounds including skin sores and burns
Overcrowded and unnatural
As farms become increasingly industrialized to fuel the growing global demand for chicken meat, chickens are bred to grow up to three times as fast as traditional breeds in a short space of time. This comes at an enormous cost to their welfare. An industrial chicken shed can hold tens of thousands of birds. At the end of their short lives, the birds are so densely packed that each animal can have less floor space than an A4 piece of paper. This extreme overcrowding makes it difficult for chickens to move or behave naturally, unable to peck or spread their wings.
Bare and bleak, with no natural light
Most industrial chicken sheds are bare except for lines of food and water dispensers. Chickens are unable to perform natural behaviours, such as perching, foraging, exploring and dust-bathing. These activities would normally keep them active and healthy. Without them. they can suffer both physically and psychologically. Most factory-grown chickens spend their lives in closed sheds without natural light. This means they move less, which can lead to leg problems and even lameness.
Sitting and lying in waste
Litter covering the floor of an industrial chicken farm is often poor quality, so chickens spend their lives sitting or lying in their own waste. Contact with the dirty floor can lead to painful skin lesions on the animal’s feet, legs and breasts. Ammonia in the air can cause respiratory and eye problems. Poor conditions like these can lead to an increase in lameness and skin disease.
You can read more about this in our report, 'Exposing the secret suffering of chickens farmed for meat'.
It's time for change
Huge, barren and crowded industrial farms don’t allow chickens to behave naturally. We want these birds to have a life worth living: that means more time to grow, more space, more natural lighting rhythms and more opportunities to behave like a chicken.
There is a better way. Higher-welfare indoor systems are already in use. These systems give chickens more time to grow, more space, more light and more opportunity to behave like chickens.