U.S. Attitudes Towards ‘Broiler’ Chickens’ Welfare

Broiler chickens—chickens bred and raised for meat—suffer from a wide range of welfare issues under intensive farming systems. They are bred to grow so quickly that they eventually suffer organ failure and cannot stand or walk without pain. While they are being raised they are crammed into tiny spaces in which individual birds have less than one square foot each, exposed to large amounts of feces that cause burns and respiratory problems, and prevented from expressing natural behaviors like perching and foraging. Finally, they undergo painful slaughter processes while they are fully conscious.

Many animal welfare groups have proposed regulatory reforms that would improve the conditions in which broiler chickens are bred, raised, and killed. The NRG Research Group recently conducted a survey for Mercy for Animals to gauge public support for such regulations. This paper, published by Mercy for Animals, reports on the results of this survey, and the full text is available online.

The survey was administered online to 500 participants in the United States in June 2017. It included 8 questions asking whether respondents thought that buyers of chicken products (restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) should require their suppliers to implement various regulations recommended by animal welfare groups. For each question, respondents could select “Strongly Agree,” “Somewhat Agree,” “Strongly Disagree,” “Somewhat Disagree,” or “Don’t Know.

Results show that all regulatory approaches tested received support (defined as participants selecting “Strongly Agree” or “Somewhat Agree”) from at least 75% of respondents. Specifically, respondents indicated the following:

• 83% support new regulations around using breeds of chickens identified as having fewer health problems
• 82% support new regulations around ensuring enough clean litter is present for birds
• 78% support new regulations around following recommended lighting standards to ensure birds have adequate levels of darkness and light
• 78% support new regulations around limiting stocking density to recommended levels
• 78% support new regulations around having third-party audits as a tool to ensure that birds are treated humanely
• 76% support new regulations around transitioning to a controlled atmosphere system in which birds are rendered unconscious before being killed
• 75% support new regulations around providing environmental enrichments to enable birds to engage in natural behaviors

In addition, 78% of respondents agreed that restaurants and grocery stores should still insist that their broiler chicken suppliers introduce new more humane standards even if it meant the cost per pound of chicken may increase slightly.

Female respondents were also significantly more likely to strongly agree with the introduction of several regulatory standards than male respondents, and in particular with regulations regarding providing environmental enrichments for chickens.

For advocates, the findings are a positive indication that the general public is concerned about the welfare of broiler chickens and may support regulations designed to improve their welfare. It is especially notable that the vast majority of respondents claim they would support such regulations even if they caused prices of chicken meat to increase. Findings also indicate that advocates promoting farm animal welfare should target their messages towards women, as they are more likely than men to strongly support welfare regulations for chickens.