Survival of the sickest (A Breed Apart - Part 3)
When chickens are bred to grow too large, too fast, they are at a higher risk of developing health problems that can cause major pain, stress, and even early death. We’re going to explain the most common health issues found in fast-growing breeds of chickens raised for meat.
Gut problems
Fast-growing meat chickens are more prone to gut problems, such as diarrhea, because the focus of their genetic selection has been on growing big muscles in a very short timeframe, with little attention paid to gut health.
Like humans, chickens need a healthy and diverse gut microbiome – that’s the term for the trillions of microorganisms that live in our intestines and are crucial to helping digestion.
Research has shown that meat chicken breeds that don’t grow so fast have a more diverse and healthy gut microbiome than fast-growing chickens.
Ensuring chickens have good gut health is important for human health as well as for chickens themselves, because a thriving microbiome helps ensure harmful bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter are kept at bay.
Image: Animal Liberation
Smaller organs, working harder
Fast-growing meat chickens have smaller organs than slow-growing chickens, despite having larger bodies.
We don’t know all the ways this could affect the health and daily wellbeing of the chickens, but one study has raised concerns that fast-growing chickens may be prone to breathlessness.
Having difficulty breathing may indicate chronic pain, it may change how the chickens would normally behave if they find moving around makes them breathless, and it makes them more susceptible to heat stress because panting is the chief way that chickens cool themselves down.
Weak immune systems
Meat chickens have a generally weaker immune response than slow-growing chickens, which may be influenced by higher levels of chronic stress from pain or an inability to perform normal chicken behaviours like perching. A Dutch study found that farms raising fast-growing meat chickens use 9 times as much antibiotic as farms raising slow-growing meat chickens.
Heart attacks
Fast-growing chickens have a high basal metabolic rate. In other words, their hearts are working overtime just to keep them alive.
In some cases, this results in part of the heart becoming abnormally large as it tries to cope with the extra work, or pressure and fluid builds up in the abdominal cavity. This is likely quite painful for the chickens, and it can also result in fatal heart attacks.
How many meat chickens is this happening to? Across the world, it has been reported in 5% of chickens. However, it may be as high as a whopping 20% of chickens in some places.
Abnormal heart rhythms (cardiac arrhythmia) have also been reported at a rate of 27% in fast-growing flocks, but only at 1% in all other flocks.
Not only is this a fast-growing chicken problem, but the high incidence of arrhythmia suggests that heart problems are more common than they appear. Arrythmia may be a more subtle sign of heart problems than birds who have died of a heart attack.
Why sickness is still profitable
Most chickens raised for meat in Australia are slaughtered at just five weeks old. The industry has a very high flock turnover. This means that it can be more profitable to put up with a relatively high percentage of birds dying early from health problems, compared to the cost and effort involved in preventing these problems.
We think that this is an unacceptable trade-off. Chickens deserve better animal welfare standards and the most important thing we can give them is a healthy body to live in. That’s why we’re calling for a switch to slower growing breeds in the Australian chicken industry.
Help make life better for chickens
Two easy actions you can do right now to help chickens are:
Sign the Better Chicken Commitment pledge, to show that you support businesses making the switch to better chicken.
Spread the word – most Aussies are unaware of how bad life is for our chickens, and, like you, will want better welfare standards.
Add your name here to show the chicken industry and food businesses that you want higher welfare chicken products that meet the requirements of the Better Chicken Commitment.
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.
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Like most Australians, I care about the welfare of farmed animals.
Chickens farmed for meat are one of the most poorly treated animals in the agriculture industry. Every year, millions of Aussie chickens suffer short, miserable lives before being slaughtered using outdated and cruel methods. I want that to change.
As many Australians like me grow more aware and concerned about how animals are farmed for food, I'm looking to restaurants and shops to match expectations for better animal welfare, sustainability, and food quality.
I’m calling on food businesses to sign the Better Chicken Commitment and introduce higher welfare standards for all chickens in their supply chain. This includes better living conditions, more humane slaughter methods, and switching to healthier, slower growing chicken breeds that promote good welfare.
It’s time to change the way chickens are farmed in Australia.
The Better Chicken Commitment must be the new standard for Aussie chickens.