Major Chicken Supplier Under Fire for Heartbreaking Cruelty to Chickens

Animal Equality

A recent undercover investigation has exposed the heartbreaking reality chickens are forced to endure when raised for meat.

The footage released shows chickens who are unable to walk, unable to reach food or water, and others covered in sores from sitting on ammonia-soaked floors. Their obvious discomfort and inability to move, among other health issues, is tragically standard for broiler chickens who are bred to grow too fast because producers want to maximize profits. These chickens may have lost their yellow fluff, but they’re still just babies.

The undercover investigation was conducted on a farm that supplies Faccenda, the second largest chicken processor in the UK, and is sold to retailers including Nando’s, Lidl and Asda.

Workers were seen dumping hundreds of dead chicks every day, kicking birds, breaking their necks and violently handling them as they’re caught and crated for transport to slaughter.

Animal Equality, the group that conducted the investigation, said that rapid growth rate leads to a mortality rate of 3-5 percent on farms, adding, “That equates to tens of millions of birds not surviving to the slaughter age of six weeks. Yet the lives of these animals have such little value that it is more profitable to suffer these losses than improve conditions.”

Animal Equality points out that the investigation raises some serious questions about perceptions that the UK is a leader when it comes to animal welfare.

Animal Equality has passed this evidence to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for investigation, but is also calling on us to end this cruelty right now by leaving chickens, and other animals, off our plates.

Hopefully this investigation will inspire more people to choose compassionately when it comes to what we’re choosing to eat, and help raise awareness about the fact that the cruelty found in animal agriculture isn’t limited to a single type of animal raised and killed for their flesh, or a single farm, or a single brand, or a single country – it’s universal.

For more info on how to help, visit: Animal Equality.