Broiler chickens and poultrymeat
This note covers welfare issues relating to chickens kept for meat - unlike battery hens, which are kept for eggs.
• This note covers some issues relating to the broiler chickens, which are kept for poultrymeat. Another note, Battery hens (SN/SC/1367) covers battery hens, which are kept for eggs, including the delay to the ban on beak trimming. More information is available on a Defra webpage, Poultry welfare.
• Before 2007 there were no specific EU animal welfare rules relating to boiler chickens.
• The 2007 EU Directive actually allowed the possibility of higher stocking density than those allowed in the UK. After consultation, Defra rejected the option of increasing stocking density.
• Opinions are sharply divided on the feasibility of satisfying demand for chicken meat by increasing the production of free range chickens.
• The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010 No3033) implemented the 2007 Directive in December 2010.