‘Chickens bred for meat face crueller conditions than battery hens’

CHICKENS bred for their meat face even more cruel conditions than battery hens under new EU rules, animal welfare campaigners said yesterday.

The RSPCA said it is "concerned and alarmed" that proposed EU legislation published yesterday the first in the history of farming to set standards for the welfare of all chickens bred for meat misses an opportunity for real welfare improvements.

The planned directive allows producers, subject to fulfilling some basic criteria, to allocate each chicken in their shed only 526 square centimetres, less space than an A4 piece of paper.

The RSPCA said even cruel battery cage systems provide more space for laying hens, which legally must have at least 550sq cm.

Chicken is the most popular meat in the UK with more than 800 million birds slaughtered for meat consumption every year.

Millions of the birds are housed in sheds with little space to move around in, contributing to the achievement of maximum meat yield from each bird in the shortest time possible.

The RSPCA believes the conditions in which the majority of chickens are reared is one of the most serious farm animal welfare issues.

Skin diseases are also a major welfare issue for chickens bred for meat and can be made worse when the birds are tightly packed together.

This directive sets a benchmark stocking density of 30 kilograms per square metre however, and subject to fulfilling some basic criteri, would make it legal for a producer to work to the higher stocking density of 38kg per square metre even if all their birds have "minor" foot pad lesions.

Commonly referred to as "foot burn", these lesions are caused by wet floor litter and high levels of ammonia from faeces in the floor litter. The lesions can cause pain which, together with a deteriorated state of health, constitutes a concerning welfare issue.

Dr Marc Cooper, the RSPCA scientific officer in the farm animals department said: "The amount of space chickens are given to move around in is one of the most important factors affecting their quality of life and urgently needs to be addressed.

"This EU legislation will do little to improve the lives of chickens in its current form.

"Surprisingly, the recommendation on the space required for each bird ignores the advice of the EU's own scientific advisory committee which stated that "above 30kg/m, even with very good environmental control systems, there is a steep rise in the frequency of serious [welfare] problems, such as leg disorders, which can cause pain and affect walking ability.

"All the more baffling then, that the EU Directive will allow stocking density up to 38 kg/m."

A new MORI survey of 2,023 adults commissioned by the RSPCA shows that when choosing which chicken to buy, consumers firstly judge the meat primarily on how healthy they think it is for them (25%).

The second most important factor is the welfare of the chicken (20%) above concerns about price, taste and country of origin.