The 35-day life of a KFC chicken... in a shed full of 34,000 others: Inside farm that houses some of fast food chain's 23 million birds

 

As one of the UK’s most popular fast food chains, it sells almost 400 pieces of chicken every minute.

But now conditions on the farms that supply KFC with 23million chickens a year can be shown for the first time.

The images show tens of thousands of chickens kept together in huge sheds, alive for just 35 days before they are gassed.

A documentary tonight shows the birds living amid their excrement in conditions activists say are ‘oppressive’ – but the farmer in charge claims it’s ‘a very good life’.

Footage to be screened this evening on BBC1 focuses on one farm where about 34,000 chickens are penned into a shed with few windows.

When they are large enough the chickens are gassed, chopped into nine pieces and sent to warehouses in large trays where they are then distributed to branches nationwide.

About 1,000 farms in the country supply KFC with 23million chickens a year. The programme focuses on a farmer called Andrew who says the chickens at his farm – left to do nothing but eat and drink until they reach the required weight – have a good life, saying he ‘wouldn’t mind being a chicken in here’.

Scenes show the chickens as they walk around in their own excrement while a layer of sawdust has turned murky brown from mopping up waste.

Asked if he thinks this is a problem, Andrew says: ‘No, no, no, that’s not a problem at all, because you see here, this is all sawdust, so the idea is to keep this as dry as possible

Millions of these birds, just like the ones KFC is commissioning to be produced die in sheds wretchedly and painfully every year.

‘These birds are deprived of everything that makes life worth living. The next step after this is to be grabbed by their frail legs, and shoved in crates and taken off to slaughter. A great number suffer broken bones during this process.’

A BBC spokesman said the documentary offers ‘an impartial look at KFC, one of the UK’s most recognisable businesses’.

It is the first time cameras have been allowed access to KFC.

A KFC spokesman said: ‘Animal welfare is essential for high quality food and is important to our customers, and all of KFC’s suppliers meet or exceed UK and EU welfare requirements. KFC was the first quick-service restaurant to gain Red Tractor certification and we have in place our own robust standard, which is independently audited by third parties.’

Episode one of The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop airs on BBC1 at 9pm

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