‘FrankenChickens’: Hearing to take place with regards to judicial review against Defra 

• Animal rights charity wins appeal for a judicial review over the breeding of fast growing, ‘FrankenChickens’
• The Humane League say 90% of chickens reared for meat grow unnaturally large, unnaturally fast causing extreme suffering for the animal
• The law states animals can only be kept for farming if their genetics don’t cause a detrimental effect on their health or welfare
• Most chickens today grow 400% faster than they did in the 1950s
• Joining us to discuss the judicial review and the Better Chicken Commitment is Animal Protection Solicitor, Edie Bowles and Amro Hussain the Public Affairs Lead for The Humane League UK.

 A charity is campaigning for Defra to stop the needless suffering of chickens reared for the meat industry. Currently 90% of the 1 billion chickens are what is classed as fast growing, meaning their breast muscles and meat grow at a rate that their bodies can’t keep up with. 

The hearing which took place yesterday was to determine if there is grounds for a full hearing.

Since the 1950s chickens have seen an increase in growth rate of 400%, leading to welfare issues that animal rights charity The Humane League say are illegal. 

The UK’s law around animals for farming state that they can only be kept if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of their genotype or phenotype, that they can be kept without any detrimental effect on their health or welfare. Something the charity says Defra, the central authority for farm welfare enforcement, is permitting, therefore the charity is taking action, in the form of a judicial review, the initial hearing of which will be heard on the 22^nd March. 

In the UK the vast majority of chickens in the meat industry are factory farmed, and in order to produce as much profitable meat as possible, chickens are bred to grow fast.However, as these chickens have seen such a fast growth increase in the past 70 years, their bodies can’t keep up, meaning the chickens are suffer from painful leg conditions, burns, lethargy, and diseases. 

This practice not only leads to the chickens suffering immeasurable pain and misery but can also lead to ruined meat for consumers. So called ‘green muscle disease’ can quite easily ruin a nice Sunday roast. 

The Humane League who wants Defra to recognise the fast growing breeds as illegal, believe that moving towards a more caring higher welfare environment for chickens will result in better meat for the public AND more profits for farmers. 

There is already a solution proving that better welfare can lead to better meat and better pay for the farmers. 

The Better Chicken Commitment aims to improve the lives of chickens reared for meat by eliminating some of the very worst problems inherent in the factory farming of chickens.

This criteria was developed by a group of leading animal protection organisations including The Humane League UK in 2018. So far, over 140 companies including KFC, Waitrose and M&S have signed up. After the Brexit referendum there was, quite rightly, a lot of arguments and campaigning to stop American chlorinated chicken from entering the UK market, however the issues regarding FrankenChickens has largely gone under the radar.