A protest to urge the government to end the culture of Frankenchickens is on in the UK. And English naturalist Chris Packham has also joined the stir. What are these chickens? Why the need to stop them? And are there any alternatives?
What are Frankenchickens?
Frankenchickens are fast -growing broiler chickens. The modern broilers raise chicken for food. But these chickens are bred in a selective way to yield more meat per chicken and quickly. These chickens are fed so that they grow 400 times faster than they normally and naturally would.
Use of these fast growing chickens in farming is illegal. But still 90% of those chickens that are killed every year in the UK are bred in this illegal way. There are around one billion of these chickens that are killed each year for food purpose.
Frankenchickens have leg weakness that cannot support their heavy body (Source: All creatures)As per the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2007 (WOFAR):
“Animals may only be kept for farming purposes if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of their genotype or phenotype, that they can be kept without any detrimental effect on their health or welfare.”
Why is this rearing practice not good?
Frankenchickens are reared against the guidelines of the above 2007 law. Advocate Edward Brown KC represents the Humane League. He said:
“These breeding practices have increased meat yield, and allowed producers to significantly reduce cost, at the expense of substantial welfare detriment.”
It can cause musculoskeletal and cardiovascular issues in the poultry birds. They have aches and pains, leg weakness, ascites, breast muscular diseases and also premature deaths. Edward added:
“These are exacerbated as a result of the high-density intensive conditions in which the animals are kept.”
Frankenchickens (Source: The Mirror UK)Therefore, The Humane League and law firm Advocates For Animals sued the government for allowing these practices to flourish in the UK. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Their rep said that there is no policy for or against such chicken breeding.
Chris was in court for a different purpose but decided to join the protest. The poet and writer Benjamin Zephaniah and also TV personality Lucy Watson were already there holding banners and chanting ‘Justice for chickens ‘.
Are there any alternatives?
Many of the protestors felt that we should not farm chickens at all. Some also added that if people want to consume them, they should be reared ethically. This implies that they should not be subjected to feeds that make them grow fast. 100% of the chickens reared for meat should be of the normal growing type. This is the case in Netherlands and UK should follow suit.
Also, read Making Air Fryer Chicken Breasts
Chris Packham joins the stir (Source: Plant based news)The verdict in the case is to come on a later date. But the Humane society is hopeful that it will be the new beginning to end this culture of fast -growing chickens. Sean Gifford, who is the Managing Director of The Humane League UK issued a statement that read:
“The future of billions of animals hangs in the balance. I hope that fast-growing Frankenchickens, who are born and die in grim factories across the country, get the help they desperately deserve,”
“Fast growing chickens are trapped in their own bodies and are victimized by constant pain and illness. We want a future where animals are treated with compassion and respect. That is a future where Frankenchickens no longer exist.”