Greed is eating badly into our world. Millions of chickens bred to grow at an unnaturally fast rate on factory farms are suffering severe cruelty.
The charity says most of the billion birds reared each year in the UK grow from chicks to adult slaughter weight in just 35 days – twice as fast as in the 1950s as a result of special breeding programmes by genetics companies.
The driving factor is profit and a desire for cheap chicken by supermarkets, restaurants and shoppers. However, the bodies of the birds go through extraordinary changes that lead to damage to their legs, hearts and lungs.
The legs cannot cope and buckle and break, leaving the birds stranded in their own mess on barn floors. At the same time the heart and lungs struggle to cope, leading to suffering and high death rates.
The RSPCA says many of the birds endure a life ‘not worth living’. The charity is calling on supermarkets and caterers to support a switch to slower growing breeds, which are stronger and healthier to eat.