Animal charities call for urgent action to prevent chickens roasting alive in heatwave

The Better Chicken Commitment is a welfare policy that aims to drastically reduce the suffering of broiler chickens by giving them more enrichment, natural light and space.

It also mandates the introduction of less painful methods of slaughter, third-party auditing, and the prohibition of fast-growing breeds.

To date, more than 330 companies in the food service, manufacturing and restaurant industries have signed up to honour the commitment — including recognisable names such as Greggs, KFC, Kraft-Heinz, Nandos and Nestlé, the largest food company in the world.

According to the Humane League UK, the better ventilation afforded to chickens under the commitment — along with the use of harder, slower-growing breeds — would allow the birds to cope better overall during episodes of extreme heat.

READ MORE: UK sued over ‘genetic monsters’ with chickens grown to huge size

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1654868/uk-heatwave-animal-charities-call-urgent-action-protect-chickens-roasting-human-league