Cramped and dying in vast sheds, plight of the chickens reared for British supermarkets
DECAYING carcasses of chickens lie on the floor where they are trampled by other birds, some appearing to be sick and injured.
in distressing images, row upon row of young birds are packed into a huge shed on a Home counties farm that supplies one of Britain’s biggest chicken producers.
in turn the firm, Faccenda, sells processed chicken to supermarkets such as asda and Lidl as well as popular restaurant chains including nando’s.
The images were captured at Stewkley Farm, Buckinghamshire, by undercover investigators for the campaigning animal welfare group Peta which says the footage lifts the lid on the reality of the modern intensive farm.
Peta says that tens of thousands of chicks are crammed into vast sheds and – in many cases – endure a short and brutal life. They are bred to grow at a superfast rate with the aim that they will be slaughtered at just 38 days – twice the growth rate of 30 years ago.
Such is the speed of growth that often their legs cannot carry their weight. This means they may fracture and, unless the birds are seen, they will die where they lie, unable to reach food and water.
Often this inability to move means that they will sit in their own excrement, so developing painful sores.
The fast growth rate also puts an enormous strain on their hearts and lungs, which can also lead to an early and painful death.
Faccenda, which insists its farms operate to high standards, says the footage is 12 months old and changes have already taken place at Stewkley Farm.
But critics says these conditions are the inevitable consequence of the nation’s insatiable appetite for
healthy white meat, which means an incredible 800million chickens are raised in the UK every year.
Stewkley Farm is said to be typical of hundreds across the country. The Peta footage captures the juvenile chickens cooped up in filthy sheds with little walking space.
One image shows a dead bird with sparse chest feathers, while another appears unable to move.
Peta has complained to the RSPCA about the farm and also to the Advertising Standards Authority because the reality is alleged to be very different to the marketing claims made by Faccenda. The chicken processor’s website states that ‘ good welfare is paramount and that means birds that are healthy and comfortable’.
Peta’s director, Elisa Allen, said: ‘Faccenda Foods is trying to hoodwink compassionate consumers with its glib, baseless nods to animal welfare. Peta is calling on authorities to hold this company accountable for duping people into thinking otherwise.’
A Faccenda spokesman said its farms are regularly inspected.
He added: ‘All of our farms operate to standards above EU and UK legislation.
‘They are independently audited and visited on a regular basis by an external vet to monitor bird health and welfare. This footage is 12 months old and a number of changes have already taken place on that farm.
‘We place high expectations on our people when it comes to looking after the birds in their care.
‘If they fail to meet our standards then they will not manage one of our farms.’
However, this is not the first time that a farm supplying chicken to Faccenda has been accused of cruelty.
Last year another group, Animal Equality, filmed similar scenes at a Somerset farm that also supplied Faccenda. This showed bins filled with a large number of chicks and older birds that had died on the floors of their sheds.
Others were seen in pain, hobbling and barely able to stand. Toni Shephard, executive director of Animal Equality, said: ‘Ninety per cent of chickens are raised on factory farms where cruelty and suffering is standard.’
Last night a Nando’s spokesman said animal welfare was ‘as important to us as it is to our customers’. He added that it would ‘only ever source from farms that meet our animal welfare expectations’.
Asda said: ‘ We expect the highest standards from our suppliers when it comes to animal welfare. All the farms that supply Asda with poultry are members of the Assured Red Tractor scheme.’
Lidl had not responded to a request for comment last night.