Frequently Asked Questions

About Chickens

  • Chickens farmed for meat in Australia face many serious welfare issues. They are genetically selected to grow too big and fast for their own bodies to handle. They don’t get enough space, light, or clean air, and they are killed using outdated, inhumane methods.  

    Breed

    The breeds of chickens used for meat in Australia been genetically selected to grow so fast it hurts.  

    They struggle to stand and move around under their own body weight. They suffer from lameness, painful skin burns, bone deformities, metabolic diseases and high death rates. 

    These fast-growing chicken breeds are designed to maximise meat production and profit, at the cost of chicken welfare. 

    Living Conditions

    Modern chicken farming involves tens of thousands of birds being packed into sheds at high densities. They may never experience natural light or clean air, have enough room to scratch around or dust bathe, and there may be nowhere to perch. 

    Without enough space, they can struggle to move around freely.  Chickens can’t act like chickens here. When these chickens are fast-growing breeds, you have a perfect environment for creating sick, stressed, suffering birds.  

    Slaughter 

    Australian chickens routinely experience fear, pain and suffering during slaughter due to the use of outdated, inhumane methods. Many slaughterhouses still use shackling and electrical stunning, where chickens are hung upside down by their legs and dipped into an electrified water bath to be stunned before slaughter. This is stressful, painful and unreliable, leaving some chickens fully conscious when their throats are slit. 

    The Better Chicken Commitment includes requirements to address each of these three key aspects of chicken welfare. 

  • The welfare of chickens raised for meat is a huge problem for two reasons. First, because the scale of the industry is immense, affecting hundreds of millions of birds. Secondly, because most of these chickens will live short, miserable lives.    

    The chicken meat industry impacts the biggest number of animals of any land-based animal industry. The Australian chicken industry raises and slaughters over 700 million chickens every year. That’s about 49kg of chicken meat eaten per person every year – way more than any other type of meat.  

    The scale is so enormous that it’s hard to think of chickens as the individual animals that they are. They have needs and wants, things they do for fun, and friendships with the other chickens they live with. While their lives are short when we use them for food, that doesn’t mean we need to accept them suffering.  

    It’s challenging to raise millions of chickens while also making sure each one of those chickens lives a happy life. Which is why the Better Chicken Commitment focuses on changing the farming practices – breed, living conditions and slaughter – that have the most negative impact on the quality of life for chickens raised for meat. Adopting the BCC requirements will make the lives of millions of chickens in the future much better.  

  • The chickens used for meat are not the kind of chickens you might keep in your backyard. They’re specialised breeds created to grow as fast as possible, with as much breast muscle as possible. This is because it is more profitable to send ‘meatier’ birds to slaughter in a shorter amount of time. It's a more cost-effective way to get chicken meat, however, this comes at a severe cost to chicken welfare.  

    In Australia, almost every chicken raised for meat is one of these fast-growing breeds. They reach slaughter weight (the size that whole chickens are sold at, which is around 2kg) in just 38 days (5 weeks). They are also very imbalanced, with such heavy breasts that they often struggle to stand and walk. If they fall over onto their backs, they may be unable to get up to reach food or water.  

    Because they’re bred to grow so fast and so big, they suffer serious health issues like bone deformities and lameness. Sometimes these health issues are so severe that they die before they reach slaughter weight. The meat chicken industry can absorb this loss because the chickens that do survive grow so fast and large. If you took one of these chickens home to keep as a pet, they wouldn’t live long no matter how well you cared for them. They’re not built to survive their own body’s weight.  

  • Change happens when everyday people stand up and demand it. If you eat chicken, or spend your hard-earned money in shops or restaurants that sell chicken, your voice is powerful. That’s why we need you to sign our BCC pledge (and share it with your friends and family). It’s a simple and effective way to prove to businesses and the industry that we want better welfare standards for chickens.  

    Signing our BCC pledge will also get you on our email list, where we’ll share more opportunities to help chickens have a better life.   

    We’ve already seen consumer pressure for better animal welfare standards work – with battery caged hens. Now, most eggs sold in Australia are cage-free. Coles and Woolworths have both committed to stop selling cage eggs by 2025. All state and territory governments have committed to phase out battery cages by 2036. This only happened because people like you took action and demanded better!  

    Together, we can create the same change for chickens raised for meat! 

  • As our campaign grows, there’ll be more opportunities to help demonstrate your support for the Better Chicken Commitment. Adding your name to our BCC pledge also gets you on our email list, where we’ll share upcoming opportunities to help chickens have a better life. 

    Consumer power is an important tool for social change. Your voice is powerful – thank you for using it to speak up for Australian chickens. 

    But while working to make chickens’ lives better, what else can you do to help the chickens that are suffering right now? 

    You can: 

    • Tell the restaurants and shops you frequent that you have higher expectations for animal welfare and that they should sign the Better Chicken Commitment 

    • Only choose chicken products from the highest welfare options available 

    • Stop or reduce your consumption of chicken products. 

    Our partner organisations are also taking action for chickens, which need your names too! Check out chicken welfare campaigns by World Animal Protection and Animals Aotearoa. 

About the Better Chicken Commitment

  • The Better Chicken Commitment is a commitment for businesses to introduce higher welfare standards for all chickens in their supply chain. It sets targets for the most important welfare issues in chickens raised for meat, based on the latest welfare science. The Better Chicken Commitment calls for: 

    • Higher welfare, slower growing chicken breeds 

    • Comfortable, healthy living conditions, where each chicken has enough space, light and clean air 

    • Slaughter methods that are more humane, with effective stunning and no live shackling

    You can read more about the specifics of the BCC and why these changes are so important here.

    Add your name to the Better Chicken Commitment pledge to show food businesses and the industry that there's appetite for change. This will show the industry how important these changes are. 

    Your voice will lead change. Find out more about taking action here.

    If you're a food business interested in signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment, get in touch and we’ll help you through the process.  

  • RSPCA Australia has not endorsed the Better Chicken Commitment. The RSPCA Approved Meat Chicken Standard does not currently meet all of the BCC’s requirements. 

    This differs from the position of the RSPCA in the UK, and the SPCA in New Zealand. Both endorse the BCC, although SPCA NZ’s certification scheme does not yet meet all of the BCC's requirements. International animal welfare organisations who are backing the BCC include: 

    • World Animal Protection 

    • Humane Society International 

    • Four Paws International 

    • Compassion in World Farming 

    • Animals Australia 

    But, RSPCA Australia does recognise that chickens raised for their meat face serious welfare issues. In 2020 they published a report on key challenges and priorities for the Australian chicken industry. These include: 

    • Ensuring ‘breeding programs prioritise traits that optimise welfare’ 

    • Providing enough space so that ‘all birds can move around freely and perform natural behaviours such as perching, foraging and dust bathing’ 

    • Slaughter practices where ‘chickens are stunned and slaughtered using methods which eliminate the handling and shackling of conscious birds’ and ‘chickens are effectively stunned prior to slaughter without pain or distress’ 

    Right now, the RSPCA Meat Chicken Standard is under review. This is an opportunity to improve it to align with the Better Chicken Commitment and improve the lives of millions of chickens every year. 

  • RSPCA Approved chicken meat does not currently meet the requirements of the Better Chicken Commitment.  

    Chicken meat labelled as RSPCA Approved comes from chickens farmed and slaughtered in accordance with the RSPCA Approved Meat Chicken Standard. Over 90% of chicken meat produced in Australia is RSPCA Approved. 

    While the Standard meets some of the 5 key requirements of the BCC, it does not mention breed at all. This means all chickens currently raised and killed under the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme are fast-growing birds. These chickens are genetically selected for rapid growth to produce as much meat for as little cost as possible. 

    Right now, the RSPCA Standard is under review. This is an opportunity to improve it to align with the Better Chicken Commitment and improve the lives of millions of chickens every year. Key changes needed include: 

    • Requiring slower growing, healthier breeds which have higher welfare outcomes 

    • Giving birds more space by reducing the maximum allowable stocking density to 30kg/m² 

    • Banning the use of live inversion and shackling of birds before slaughter 

    Lifting the RSPCA Standard to meet all the BCC requirements would bring RSPCA Australia into line with its international counterparts. It would also mean the RSPCA can take the next step and join the global animal protection community's work towards a unified approach to improving chicken welfare. 

  • Working out what to buy when food shopping can be a confusing experience, with many different labels and welfare claims to choose from.  

    To have any assurance that chickens are getting better than the minimum standards, you need to ensure the product you are buying is certified. There are three main chicken certification labels in Australia: RSPCA Approved, Australian Certified Organic and Accredited Free Range. 

    We’ve produced a quick guide which compares these standards to the Better Chicken Commitment which you can read here.

    Sadly, none of these certification labels currently require slower growing breeds.  

    There are a few small farms that specialise in rearing these higher welfare chickens, but you can’t buy them at regular supermarkets. 

    But if voting with your wallet isn’t really an option yet, how can you tell food businesses what you want them to change? 

    That’s what the Better Chicken Australia campaign is about. 

    Two easy actions you can do right now to help chickens are: 

    1. Sign the Better Chicken Commitment pledge, to show that you support businesses making the switch to better chicken 

    1. Spread the word – most Aussies are unaware of how bad life is for our chickens, and, like you, will want better welfare standards 

    As our campaign grows, there’ll be more opportunities to help demonstrate your support for the Better Chicken Commitment. Signing our BCC pledge will also get you on our email list, where we’ll share more opportunities to help chickens have a better life.   

  • When it comes to farmed animal welfare, Australian laws are weak. You might expect Australian laws to protect chickens from pain, fear and suffering, just like laws protect pets and wildlife. That’s not the case. The Australian government lags far behind community expectation and the latest science. As a result, millions of farmed animals suffer every year.  

    The minimum legal standards for chickens raised for meat in Australia are set by the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Domestic Poultry. These standards let chickens live in crowded, stressful conditions with no ability to perform natural behaviours like perching and foraging.   

    A new standard, the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry, was endorsed by State and Territory governments in 2022. These standards are only slightly better than the previous Code, and they still don’t require farmers to provide perches for chickens or give them enough space to move around freely. What’s more, these standards haven’t yet been written into law, so they can’t even be enforced!  

    This is why it’s so important for food businesses to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment. We can’t rely on government regulation to protect chickens from suffering or ensure they live lives worth living. If we want to be sure that the chicken we eat came from a bird that was happy and healthy, we need a promise we can trust. The Better Chicken Commitment provides that promise. 

About Businesses & the BCC

  • Is your business interested in signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment? Get in touch and we’ll help you through the process.  

    The key step is drafting your proposed commitment, including the date for full implementation. We will then check it to confirm that it fully meets the Better Chicken Commitment requirements. Once we’re in agreement – we'll celebrate your commitment! You can publicly announce your leadership on chicken welfare, and we’ll promote it to our supporters.  

    You’ll also need to develop a roadmap to implementation for your commitment. Every business is different, so your roadmap may not be the same as others. A roadmap is an important tool to set milestones working towards full BCC compliance.  

    This could look like:  

    • A timeline for your supplier to start building up stocks of slower growing breeds, so that there is enough supply to meet your deadline  

    • A year-by-year gradual decrease in stocking density  

    • Dates for implementing each change to chickens’ living and slaughter conditions  

    Feel free to reach out with any questions to help prepare for joining the Better Chicken Commitment. 

  • Before we even began our campaign in Australia, Domino’s, Marley Spoon, and Open Farm became the first businesses to sign the Better Chicken Commitment. 

    Across the ditch in Aotearoa New Zealand, seven businesses have signed the BCC, including Domino’s. Two more NZ BCC companies also operate in Australia (but haven't yet signed the BCC here) - HelloFresh and The Coffee Club. 

    With your help, we can grow this small number into a long list of Better Chicken Commitments.