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Do you buy chicken and care about animal welfare?

If so, there’s a lot you need to know about how chickens are reared that will help you make informed choices when you’re shopping, eating out or grabbing your favorite meal to go.

Whether you eat meat or abstain, we’d like to tell you about why Better Chicken is so important and how you can support it.

To learn more about which companies support Better Chicken, review our ChickenTrack report to see which leaders value chicken welfare.

Once you know why Better Chicken matters, share it with your family and friends.

You have the power to give chickens a better life -  choose higher welfare chicken and swap ingredients to create a plant-forward plate.

JOIN US... AND BE PART OF THE MOVEMENT FOR GOOD! 

Making life better for millions – actually, billions – of chickens

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WHAT IS BETTER CHICKEN?

Over 9 billion chickens are raised for meat in the United States every year, making them the animals farmed most on land. These barns are dark and overcrowded and filled with feces, leaving birds blind with respiratory issues. Central to this issue is how fast these animals grow – in the short six weeks of their lives, these birds will grow at a rate that’s similar to if a three-year-old human weighed 300 pounds. This animal cannot walk or even stand up, leaving them to live a life laying in filth or prematurely die because of organ failure. Better Chicken is chicken that comes from higher welfare farms, where the birds are healthy, and have a clean enriching environment to live. Central to Better Chicken is slower-growing genetic breeds where birds can mature to a healthier weight, giving them more opportunity to do what's natural to them like perching, pecking, scratching and even playing. Allowing the chickens to lead happier lives!

3. WHAT IS BETTER CHICKEN?
Better for the chickens

Better for the chickens

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The Problem

Broiler chickens crammed together indoors

Chickens raised for meat are the most farmed land animals in the world. Over 9.5  billion are reared in the U.S. every year, with over 70% crammed into barren sheds on factory farms – often with no natural light, a lack of stimulating materials and only litter on the floor.

Factory-farmed chickens are bred to grow unnaturally fast and are sent to slaughter as early as 33 days old, so they don’t even reach adulthood in their lifetime.

Trapped in unhealthy, oversized, painful bodies, many chickens live much of their very short lives unable to move, exhausted, and often become lame. Some suffer with serious heart conditions or collapse under their own weight.

Chickens can feel emotions just like us, such as pain and fear, and they suffer in these harsh conditions. Is this fair?

The Solution

two chickens standing on a hay bail in an indoor higher welfare farm

There is a more humane and sustainable way to rear chickens, which is why Compassion in World Farming wants all chickens to lead better lives – reared in higher welfare systems.

Chickens are healthier, happier and more active when they are bred to grow more slowly and have the space and stimulation they need to behave like, well, chickens. Slower-growing chickens can walk more easily, have stronger hearts and better resistance to disease.

Chickens from slower-growing breeds are more likely to be active. When they are also given more space to live and things to investigate, they can do what comes naturally: pecking, scratching, wing flapping and perching. The birds have the opportunity to experience some of the joys of life.

In the best systems chickens have separate places to rest, feed, drink and play – and can go outside for fresh air and sunlight.
Better for you

Better for you

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The Problem

Standard, low-welfare chicken production, with its oversized animals and poor living conditions, not only creates health hazards for the chickens, but for us too.

Lame chicken

The speed of the chickens' growth and their high body weight can cause their muscles to degenerate which leads to lower quality, less nutritious meat.

Antibiotics are routinely given to the chickens to help them survive in these poor welfare systems (when they should only be given to sick animals). Routine use of antibiotics increases the risk of antibiotic- resistant bacteria which is an increasing threat for humans.

The conditions the chickens live in, and their compromised immune systems, allow dangerous bacteria to flourish – leading to an increased risk of food poisoning.

The Solution

Two chickens on a hay bail in an indoor higher welfare farm

Slower-growing chickens reared in higher welfare systems have been shown to have stronger immune systems. This dramatically reduces the need for antibiotics and fewer of them are infected with harmful bacteria.

Higher welfare production also addresses the muscle degeneration seen in fast-growing birds, improving the quality and nutritional value of the meat. Meat from slower-growing chickens contains less fat, higher proportions of omega-3 fatty acids and more Vitamin E and iron.  
Better for the planet

Better for the planet

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The Problem

The biggest cause of animal suffering on the planet is factory farming. It’s also helping to drive the worst climate, nature and health catastrophes humanity has ever faced. 

Stressed Broiler chickens in an intensive farm

More than two-thirds of the 80 billion animals farmed for food every year are caged, crammed and confined in ways that cause immense suffering. It is also increasing greenhouse gas emissions and destroying wildlife habitats.

The Solution

Collage of fruits vegetables and legumes

We all need to adopt diets that rely less on industrial farming - supporting fairer, healthier, more planet-friendly food.

By eating fewer animal products (and choosing higher welfare options), wasting less, and by introducing more fruits, vegetables and pulses into our diet, we can help take the pressure off the invaluable resources of our planet – and save some money too!

Making small changes to our diets each day can make a huge difference in supporting a better food system now - and for future generations to come. 

What can you do to support better chicken?

If you buy chicken, carefully check the label to see what kind of life the bird had. Use our Learn the Labels guide to understand what labels and claims mean for chickens.

GAP Nostep
Animal Welfare Approved by AGW Logo
Regenerative Organic Certified Logo 750X750
Better Chicken Project

It’s important to look for recognized higher welfare labels such as Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World, Regenerative Organic Certified by the Rodale Institute, or Better Chicken Project Certified under the Global Animal Partnership program.

Phrases such as ‘trusted farms,' 'humanely raised,' ‘butcher’s choice,’ or ‘reared with care’ do not have a legal definition you can rely on. In addition, beware of 'cage-free chicken' in the U.S. Most chickens raised for meat in the U.S.A. are not raised in cages, so while true, this term is not truly meaningful. 

If you cannot find these labels in store, ask the store manager about the welfare standards for their chicken and request slower-growing chicken. Always CHOOSE BETTER CHICKEN!

Food Guide Thumbnail

You can download our handy Compassionate Food Guide and take this with you when you're shopping!

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You can also support companies that have pledged to introduce BETTER CHICKEN welfare through the Better Chicken Commitment. 

If you choose to opt for more plant-based foods, this will help to reduce the demand for chicken that fuels the most intensive, low-welfare farming systems. Plant-forward meals are better for your health and the environment too!

5 facts about chickens - How much do you know?

  1. Chickens are the closest living relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex
    BUT     unlike the mighty T-Rex, known for its strength, many chickens reared for meat are bred to grow so big so fast that their legs cannot support their weight. This accelerated growth weakens their immune systems and results in conditions such as heart defects, organ failure and muscle diseases.

  2. Chickens can live to be 7 or 8 years old. The oldest recorded chicken, called Peanut, lived to  21 years old!
    BUT     in standard production systems, most chickens are slaughtered as early as 47 days - less than two months from birth.

  3. Chickens are intelligent! They can count, use geometry and remember 100 different faces!
    BUT in conventional production systems, chickens rarely see the light of day, living in dimly lit barns with nothing to do. This lack of enrichment leaves them bored and disengaged.

  4. Chickens can run up to 9 miles per hour and love to flap their wings
    BUT in typical production systems, chickens endure their entire lives in overcrowded barns where they are packed closely together, consistently vying for space, and unable to perch, peck, or engage in natural playful behaviors.

  5. Chickens are sentient beings. They can feel fear, distress and pain
    BUT in standard slaughterhouses, they undergo a terrifying process where they are suspended upside down by their feet in shackles before being subjected to an electrified water bath which is not always effective in stunning them before slaughter. Better Chicken aligned with the BCC ensures birds have a much more humane end of life. 
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