Giving chickens more space is only half the job. We need breed change

Shifts in stocking density are clearly the flavour of the month. M&S recently announced its birds will have more space by May 2025 in line with the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), and Aldi has pledged to give its birds more space too.

Aldi’s news means eight of the UK’s top 10 retailers have now committed to giving their birds more space. Asda and Iceland, the only ones yet to announce a change, now stick out like sore thumbs. Their birds will suffer more than their competitors’.

It’s a step forward when for the last couple of years, supermarkets have been slow to improve the welfare of chickens raised for meat. Around two-thirds of UK chicken is sold in supermarkets – around eight hundred million individual animals every year. That’s an astronomical number, and the wellbeing of these birds deserves the highest scrutiny. I am therefore excited to see systemic change in this direction. The science is clear: more space will improve the lives of these animals.

However, there is a real danger that a crucial factor in chicken welfare becomes sidelined: the breed. Leading animal protection organisations, including The Humane League UK, focus on ‘Frankenchickens’. The BCC demands the use of healthier, more robust, slower-growing breeds for good reason. The genetics of fast-growing broilers are completely at odds with high welfare standards. These animals grow so big, so quickly that many become lame. Many will lie in their waste, which burns their skin, and many will keel over from organ failure.

These problems are not solved by giving a bird more space. This kind of suffering isn’t to do with barns or farm management – it’s coded into the bird’s DNA. That’s why The Humane League UK is recommitting its energy and attention into campaigning for better chicken breeds.

We need breed change. The selective approach most supermarkets have taken towards the BCC is wrongheaded, given the policy was designed holistically by animal welfare experts. Providing more space is doing only half a job.

M&S and Waitrose can be proud that they are continuing to move towards a full BCC commitment, and the rest of the supermarkets should follow their example. The Co-op, whose membership continues to demand an end to the sale of Frankenchickens in their name, can no longer claim it is a ‘leader’ on chicken welfare. The retailer prides itself on ethics – so should reconsider its position now that all of its competitors have met its supposedly progressive standards for chickens.

Welfare commitments tend to create a domino effect among supermarkets. Sainsbury’s announced its move to give chickens more space in 2022, and two years later a further seven of the top 10 supermarkets have followed suit. They set the tone – so if another large supermarket changes its chicken breed, who’s to say it can’t lead the whole sector towards better, kinder farming?

Animal charities will not be shy in applauding incremental improvements for hundreds of millions of sensitive animals – but supermarkets should not kid themselves that a bit more space is enough. Stopping the cruel use of Frankenchickens must remain a priority. 

The truth is, the majority of animals in the UK live cramped, dismal lives inside overcrowded sheds. Factory farming is an extremely recent phenomenon, whose origins are still in living memory.

What can be done can be undone, but it will take the leadership of the retailers to do it. If executives at Britain’s supermarkets take on the responsibility of helping animals, and fight for a better future, they might just find themselves with a legacy to be proud of.