New research published by RSPCA Assured reveals a huge double-standard in the way shoppers regard chickens that lay eggs and chickens farmed for their meat.

According to the survey 60% of people always buy cage free eggs, but as few as around half that number (33%) say they always buy ethical chicken meat such as RSPCA Assured, free range and organic.  

This huge disparity is in spite of the majority (86%) of respondents saying they think all the chicken we eat should come from farms using

ethical welfare standards.

What comes first - the chicken or the egg?

Consumer pressure has brought about a revolution in the UK egg industry with cage-free (barn, free range and organic) production accounting for 52% of eggs in 2016.

But it’s not such good news for meat chickens.  Ethical meat chicken production – RSPCA Assured, free range and organic - is lagging far behind egg production and only accounts for a tiny minority of all the chickens reared for our tables each year.

In fact RSPCA Assured chickens - from high welfare indoor, free range or organic farms - only account for about one per cent of UK chicken production, with the vast majority being farmed in conditions which the RSPCA thinks most people would find unacceptable.  

But according to RSPCA scientist, Sophie

Elwes, consumers aren’t entirely to blame and there could be a number of reasons why consumption of ethical meat chicken is so much lower than ethical, cage-free eggs.

She says: “With eggs it’s easy - by law they have to state whether they come from hens in cages and many supermarkets have actually stopped selling eggs from cages altogether.

“But meat chicken labels are a minefield.  Claims made on packaging and dubious ‘farm name’ brands can mislead people into thinking the chicken they are buying is higher welfare

when it’s not.”  

“If the 86% of people in the survey who think all chicken should come from higher welfare farms only bought chicken meat labelled RSPCA Assured, free range or organic it would transform meat chicken welfare in this country.”

But it’s not just unclear labelling that’s contributing to the problem. Price is also a significant factor as Sophie concludes:

“The difference between the cost of eggs from caged birds and free range birds is usually a matter of pence but with meat chicken the difference can be quite a bit more.  

“However, when you think an RSPCA Assured chicken costs three times less - gram for gram - than a bar of Dairy Milk, or about the same price as a couple of high street coffees, it

sounds much more affordable and a small price to pay for better welfare.”

What is wrong with the way most chickens produced in the UK are farmed?

The vast majority of chickens farmed for meat are kept in conditions which we don’t believe meet all of their needs. For example they:

• Don’t have enough space to move around freely -  in fact they are given less space per bird than an egg-laying caged hen
• Are bred to grow so fast that they can struggle to walk around properly and can develop heart failure
• Are given very little to do and nothing to peck at and perch on
• Don’t have to be given any natural light

Why is RSPCA Assured labelled chicken better?

• RSPCA welfare standards for chickens - used by RSPCA Assured farmers - cover their entire lives from birth to slaughter, including when being transported
• The standards also cover health, diet, environment and care
• Fast growing birds are not allowed
• Chickens can be free range or kept indoors with plenty of space to move around and flap their wings
• They are given things to perch on and peck at such as straw bales and vegetables
• Birds kept indoors must have windows giving natural light