Improving welfare standards for chickens
Did you know that the chicken meat industry is Australia’s largest land-based animal sector, impacting over 700 million individuals every year? Most of these chickens endure short, miserable lives due to poor welfare standards and laws. Despite the widespread suffering, there is very little awareness of the inherent problems in modern chicken production. It’s time for this to change.
The Better Chicken Australia campaign (BCA) is setting a new standard for animal welfare, by calling on food businesses and retailers to lead the way – but we need your help to make this a reality.
How are Australia’s current animal welfare standards failing chickens farmed for meat?
Around the world, there has been a rise in scientific understanding of animal sentience, welfare and suffering. In turn, most Australian consumers – over 80% (PDF) – recognise that farmed animals, including chickens, experience feelings and emotions, like joy and pain and deserve much higher welfare standards than are in place today.
Despite these changes, Australian animal welfare laws remain weak. The minimum legal standards for chickens raised for meat in Australia allow the industry to breed genetically selected chickens that grow at extreme rates to an unnatural size, pack them into sheds in the thousands with little room to move or express natural behaviours like foraging and perching, and use slaughter methods that are known to cause immense suffering.
The breeds of chickens used for meat in Australia have been genetically selected to grow so fast it hurts.
Modern chicken farming involves tens of thousands of birds being packed into sheds at high densities.
Australian chickens routinely experience fear, pain and suffering during slaughter due to the use of outdated, inhumane methods.
It’s time for Australia to implement higher welfare standards for chickens.
The suffering of chickens raised for meat is one of the biggest, but least recognised, animal welfare problems in Australia. Better Chicken Australia (BCA) is the latest phase of the Better Chicken Commitment campaign backed by the Alliance for Animals, World Animal Protection and Animals Aotearoa, aimed at significantly raising the welfare of meat chickens in Australia.
“We know that the majority of Australians care about farmed animals and would be shocked at the suffering faced by chickens.”
What is the Better Chicken Commitment?
The Better Chicken Commitment is a global policy initiative that targets the most significant welfare issues facing chickens raised for meat. It includes transitioning to healthier, slower growing chicken breeds, improving living conditions, and adopting more humane slaughter methods.
The lack of progress with Australian animal welfare laws shows that we can’t rely on government regulation to protect chickens from suffering. So instead of targeting the government, the BCA campaign calls on food businesses and retailers to lead the charge in improving chicken welfare in the Australian meat industry. The BCA offers a pathway for businesses to align with the expectations of Australian consumers, while also promoting transparency about their progress and actions.
RSPCA UK have endorsed the Better Chicken Commitment, raising the standards of chicken welfare across the United Kingdom.
Have any other countries adopted the Better Chicken Commitment?
There are over 600 commitments to the Better Chicken Commitment across the United States, Europe, and New Zealand.
United States: over 200 commitments, including Burger King, Subway, Chipotle, and Nestle.
Europe: over 370 commitments to the Better Chicken Commitment, pledging to introduce the higher welfare criteria for all the chickens in their supply chain by 2026.
New Zealand and Australia: nine companies including Domino’s, Hello Fresh, Marley Spoon, and My Food Bag have committed.
You can help transform the lives of millions of chickens.
Change happens when people stand up and demand it. That’s why your support for the Better Chicken Commitment is so critical. By taking the pledge you are showing food businesses and the chicken industry that Australians want better welfare standards for chickens and that the time for change is now.
Want to learn more? Visit the Better Chicken Australia here.
