DEFRA has announced that chickens that are reared for meat in the UK (known as broiler chickens) must be stocked at the 2007 EU Directive’s lowest suggested density.
The 2007 EU Directive on the welfare of meat chickens (broilers) provides a maximum stocking density of 33 kilogrammes per square metre (approx 16 chickens) but gives Member States a discretion to permit the higher density of 42 kilogrammes per square metre (about 21 chickens) .
DEFRA have announced that the maximum permitted stocking density for broiler chickens will be 39 kilogrammes per square metre, and that they will not permit the higher density of 42 kilogrammes per square metre.
Each year over 5 billion meat chickens are reared in the EU (800 million per year of them in the UK); this makes them by far the most numerous of all farmed species. Until recently they remained largely unprotected by the law on-farm.
In 2007, the EU Agriculture Council agreed the Broilers Directive, a Council Directive laying down minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production (commonly known as broiler chickens).
Compassion in World Farming believes that this is a courageous decision by the Coalition Government and is pleased that they have stuck to their Coalition Programme promise to ’promote high standards of farm animal welfare’. (The Coalition: our programme for government- page 18)
Peter Stevenson, Chief Policy Advisor at Compassion in World Farming said, "DEFRA have made a positive decision for farm animal welfare. We believe this is a step in the right direction for broiler chickens. However, even though DEFRA has opted for the lower of the two densities under consideration, we believe that the permitted density is far too high as it allows chickens to be kept in conditions too crowded to meet their basic welfare needs".
"We would eventually like to see all chickens farmed in higher welfare conditions – either free range or, to RSPCA Freedom Food standards where the maximum permitted stocking density is 30 kilogrammes per square metre. Now it’s down to the industry and consumers to further drive that change. Consumers looking for higher welfare chicken have grown sales by 22% in the last year whereas sales of standard chicken have remained at only 0.1% year on year
