Vegan food brand VFC released heartbreaking undercover video footage of the shocking abuse that chickens are subjected to at Park Farm North in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The factory farm produces birds for one of the largest chicken companies, Moy Park, which supplies chicken to KFC, as well as to supermarkets and other retailers. The shocking exposé follows the release of a KFC promotional video, which seeks to reassure the public of its “high welfare” standards.
VFC announced that it became suspicious when learning that KFC teamed up with Joe.co.uk and social media influencer Niko Omilana to “go behind the bucket” at a flagship farm. VFC had already investigated six randomly chosen chicken farms and never witnessed exceptional conditions such as those featured in the KFC film.
UK-based VFC, which was founded in December of 2020 by Matthew Glover and Adam Lyons, decided to track down the exact farm shed and pay a visit with a filmmaker to compare the marketing claims with reality.
KFC’s promotional film, in which the farm manager, dubbed “The Chicken Whisperer,” tells Niko that they are “very proud” of the animal welfare at the farm. The video shows:
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Fresh straw covering the floor of the entire shed.
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Platform perches provided as enrichment to enable “natural behaviors.”
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The farm manager stating that bells were provided as enrichment for the birds.
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The birds had a reasonable amount of space.
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There were no dead, sick or injured birds anywhere.
In reality, VFC’s investigation, conducted just a few weeks after KFC’s marketing film was published, found:
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There was no straw on the ground, which was sodden with animal feces. Two plastic-wrapped bales were left by the door.
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The perches were raised so high that they were unavailable to the birds.
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There was no sign of the bells the farm manager had talked about.
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The shed was tightly packed with tens of thousands of birds.
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Dead birds littered the floor, and bodies were left abandoned in a wheelbarrow inside of the shed.
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There were many sick, injured, and lame birds.
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The bins outside the unit were so full that dead animals’ limbs protruded from the top.
“This is the most disingenuous marketing campaign we have seen for a long time. This portrayal of chicken farming is utterly misleading and seeks to reassure the public that all is well, when nothing could be further from the truth. People have a right to know how filthy and crowded these farms are; how birds suffer and die right there in the sheds; and that the bins overflow with the carcasses of the poor animals who could not survive even a few weeks in such conditions,” Glover said in a statement, noting that “it is no wonder that people do not know basic facts about where meat comes from, or what the animals are forced to endure to produce it.”
“We were not surprised to find that things were this bad because this is the everyday reality of intensive chicken farming,” concluded Glover. “But, it leaves us with just one question: did the farm lie to KFC about its welfare standards, or is KFC lying to the rest of us?”
