Morrisons to raise basic chicken welfare standards

Supermarket group Morrisons is moving all its standard fresh chickens to an enriched regime, following new research by the University of Bristol into the welfare benefits of windows, perches, straw bales and pecker blocks.

Around 75% of indoor chickens in the UK are in sheds which don’t have natural daylight or activity objects, said a statement from Morrisons.

The supermarket group therefore commissioned one of the first UK studies into the provision of such enhancements, to find out which measures made a genuine difference to the welfare of chickens.

A total of 120,000 birds were observed for more than 100 hours over the course of a month to determine whether they appeared to be positively occupied, bored, calm, depressed, tense or content, among other measures.

The study found that the chickens were more confident and active in an enriched environment where they could express their natural behaviour.

“Despite the high levels of public interest in chicken welfare, to date there has been relatively little research into the impact that environmental enrichment can have on their behaviour,” said Claire Weeks from the University of Bristol. “This study has shown it does make a positive difference.”

In a separate project, Morrisons has analysed the physical health of birds raised in enriched barns with natural daylight. The results have been “highly encouraging”, it says, revealing an improvement in physical condition and overall wellbeing.

Louise Welsh, agriculture manager at Morrisons, said: “We are aware that many customers are concerned about the conditions that chickens live in, but can’t afford to buy free-range or even organic meat. That’s why we have made the move to ensure that all of our standard chickens will enjoy higher-welfare living conditions.

“Our standard range accounts for over 90% of all Morrisons’ sales of chicken. That means over a million chickens a week will now be raised in better conditions, proven to have a positive impact on their wellbeing.”

David Gibson, director of agriculture at poultry processor Moy Park, said: “The study reinforces what we have seen in our farms – that natural light has a very positive effect on the chickens, making them more active.

“As pointed to in the research study, we also enrich the chicken houses, which further enhances the environment for the birds and allows them to express their natural behaviour.”