19 day old broiler (meat) chickens in an indoor, deep-litter system. World Animal Protection is calling for better welfare standards for the broiler industry. Credit: World Animal Protection / Georgina Goodwin

Success! KFC acts for chickens!

News

Following our petition calling on KFC to give chickens a better life, today KFC UK, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden has become the first major fast food outlet to sign the Better Chicken Commitment, a set of standards that will improve the welfare of millions of chickens.

The commitment means that by 2026 all the farms that supply KFC’s restaurants in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden will move away from the use of fast-growing breeds that suffer from painful heart, lung and bone problems.

More space and natural light for KFC chickens

KFC chickens will also have more space to move around, more natural light and enrichment such as straw bales to explore and peck, so they can behave more naturally. KFC estimates that 72 million chickens will benefit from the changes that it has committed to making. 

 

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Our team before handing in the petition in Louisville, Kentucky

Welcoming the commitment by KFC, Ian Woodhurst, our farming campaigns manager, said: “This is fantastic news for many millions of chickens and an important first step towards improving the welfare of chickens globally. We hope other regions and countries where KFC operates will follow suit as quickly as possible.”

As well as signing the Better Chicken Commitment KFC will also use a company to check its commitments, publicly report on progress every year and provide funding for research into better chicken welfare.

Challenging other fast food companies

We will continue our work with KFC to improve chicken welfare on all the farms around the world that supply it with chickens and keep on challenging other global fast food companies to follow KFC’s lead and make a change for chickens.

We launched our Change for Chicken campaign in 2016 and a year later began working with KFC in the UK and Europe on improving the welfare of the chickens on farms that supply its restaurants. 

Find out more about our ongoing campaign to improve chicken welfare.

 

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“We hope the other regions and countries where KFC operates will follow suit as quickly as possible. - Ian Woodhurst, farming campaigns manager at World Animal Protection

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