Investigators picked her up, but her legs were too swollen to stand.
She can’t walk. Her legs have collapsed. She can’t reach the food and water.
She is just one of many chickens who can’t walk. She is surrounded by tens of thousands of chickens in just a single shed, who struggle to walk. These birds are in pain with every step they take.
Most New Zealanders care about the welfare of farmed animals, including chickens, and expect food companies to do the same. More of us than ever are rejecting cage eggs and choosing free-range meat.
But what most people don’t realise is that not all chickens raised for meat are the same. Here in New Zealand, the chickens raised commercially for meat, including free range, have been selectively bred to grow abnormally fast. These breeds of chickens grow so big and so fast that many suffer chronic pain and lameness. Some can’t lift their bodies up off the floor to reach food or water. Others struggle to breathe or suffer organ failure within weeks of being hatched. All because they’ve been bred to grow faster than nature intended.
The chicken industry, dominated by Tegel and Ingham’s is profiting from pain and misery. It’s not natural, it’s not necessary and it’s not what New Zealanders want.
Around the world, people are calling for an end to the rearing of abnormally fast-growing chicken breeds in favour of healthier breeds who grow more naturally. Some of the world’s biggest food companies are already getting on board - there are more than 600 commitments to improving the lives of chickens reared for meat.
But here in Aotearoa, only a small number, so far have done the same. Major food brands are lagging behind because they think most New Zealanders don’t know or care about the breed of chicken they’re being sold.
That’s why Animals Aotearoa has launched the Better Chicken Commitment campaign calling on major food brands to only source their meat from farms that raise healthier breeds of chickens and treat them better.
Show them you care by adding your name to demand change.