Give chicken a better life

The RSPCA thinks most people probably don’t realise that the majority of meat chickens we eat are bred to grow so fast millions of them are dangerously heavy for their age, struggle to walk properly and can suffer from heart defects.

In fact if a newborn baby grew as fast as your average supermarket chicken by her third birthday she would weigh 28 stone.

But it’s so easy for all of us to help by only choosing chicken labelled RSPCA Assured, free-range or organic.

The RSPCA Assured label doesn’t allow fast growing breeds of chickens.

The birds must be given plenty of space to move around and flap their wings, whether they are kept indoors or outside.

They also have perches and things to peck at such as straw bales and vegetables and they are given natural light.

The more people who choose ethical chicken like RSPCA Assured, free range and organic, the more supermarkets will stock it and more chickens will have a better life.

To help put pressure on your supermarket to stock more ethical chicken, visit www.rspcaassured.org.uk/lobby-your-supermarket

Clive Brazier,

CEO, RSPCA Assured